An open letter to the man who had to go back to the army

Subject: An open letter to the man who had to go back to the army
Date: 21 Jul 2019

This summer I decided to start using a dating app with the hope that it would take me out of my comfort zone, and introduce me to guys I might not normally get the chance to meet during my daily routine.
I had not expected to fall for you. You asked me out during one of our first conversations, and I said yes because I liked the kinds of topics we had been talking about, and I wanted to get to know you better. You mentioned that you were in the army, and was visiting your family while on leave. Initially I hadn’t wanted to go on the date, and was close to canceling because I was scared to start dating again. I also knew you were only going to be here for a short period of time, so I wanted to avoid getting attached. I’m glad I didn’t cancel because that night ended up being one of the best dates I have ever been on, and I could tell we had an instant connection.
From that night on we started texting each other every day with cute good morning messages, and virtually flirting throughout the day. I ended up telling you more about myself than I have ever told my closest friends.
Although the day you were leaving was always looming in the back of my mind, I wanted to pretend it was not coming up. When that day finally came a little over a week after our date, I was crushed. Although we had only been on one date because our plans always fell through due to conflicts in our schedules, I still felt a deep connection with you that I never want to forget. I know it can be risky to start a relationship before one person goes away, but I would have happily done the long distance relationship for you. Before you left, you told me I should move on because as much as we both want a relationship, you do not want to make me wait for you. I respect that because I know the only thing I can do is go on living my life, while you fight for our country. What I want you to know is that I hope somewhere in the future, we will be given the chance to be together one day.
I hope you stay safe during the rest of your time in the army, and that we can stay in touch because even just being your friend would mean a lot to me.

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