After seven years of dating, Navy Boy and College Girl have ended things. Five months into an engagement that surprised absolutely no one, the two of them called it quits quietly somewhere between New Jersey and Washington on a cross country road trip they set out on together. I’m sure there’s a metaphor in there somewhere, them driving to Washington together and her flying home, alone. I think that if this was a movie, she would have gone to the airport only to be stopped by him at the last moment with a grand gesture and a “Stay with me!” But it’s not.
Navy Boy and College Girl breaking up is a difficult for me to accept as it is for a young child’s parents getting divorced. I said it before that I don’t like change, and I really don’t. Navy Boy is being deployed somewhere in two weeks, and I think his deployment involves being in a submarine for three months or something but I can’t remember and it’s not something I feel right asking either of them about.
The two of them were the basis of every argument I’ve ever had about things working out if you try hard enough when it comes to distance and those you love, but I think now they’re working more towards the “If you love something, let it go” end of the cliché spectrum. My dad actually brought that saying up when he first heard about the two of them, and it’s funny to me that he would say that, that he was as invested in two kids’ relationship as much as any of their friends were. I think, more than anyone else, my two friends know what it’s like to deal with growing up. Both know what it’s like to sacrifice for someone you love, and to know when giving up on each other doesn’t really mean giving up on each other, but that it’s still the best thing to do even if it hurts.
College is a time for meeting new people, seeing new things, experiencing new experiences. They’re both going to get that chance now, though in different ways, and that’s a good thing.
-Mary K
