One time, at debate camp...

What a week.

Being in a long-distance relationship gives you many opportunities to think -- about why you miss people, whether missing people is healthy, and who, exactly, is worth missing. If you know me, then you won't be surprised to hear that I spent much of the last week, during which my Love was actually here, thinking about what I would miss most when she was gone.

And before you go rolling your eyes, it's not because I'm a pessimist. When I say that I soaked up every single possible moment that we had together, I do not exaggerate. But I am a realist. I knew, from experience, that when she left, I would feel it. I was just trying to understand what I would feel most.

An old maxim, probably taught to every debater, mock trialer, or other aspiring orator came to mind around mid-week -- primacy and recency. Very simply put, the things that will stick to your audience's minds like a 10 year old tongue to a freezing cold flag pole are what you begin with and what you end with. So start and end strong.

Perhaps I'm just an old debate nerd, but the same holds true when I spend time with my Love. What I look forward to the most, what makes her being here so much more than her not being here isn't what we do. It is how we begin the day with a giggle or end it with a sigh. It is our quiet time at day break and night fall that make us more us than anything else we do. It is the good morning and the good night that I knew my heart would remember, and miss, most.

I hate being right.

If I may be so bold as to offer a bit of advice, without presumption of wisdom, but only experience as my guide, it is to cherish your "good mornings" and "good nights". When debate camp is over, those are the stories you will tell.

Hopeless