Being a good listener

Dragon Mood? -- adjusting

Because of job demands, my partner, S, and I are embarking on another stretch of time where we will be living in separate houses; her here in the piney woods, me in the Detroit pied-a-terre. We're not exactly clear on how long this will be; it could be three months, six months or longer.

As we're only one week into the separation, I'm still adjusting. I notice how quiet the pied-a-terre is without her. I miss her presence, her spirit, simply her. I went the entire week without making a pot of coffee (I'm trying caffeinated tea in the morning instead). Being without coffee just wouldn't happen if S were there.

On Friday afternoon, we were reunited early. We went to a newly-opened Mexican restaurant for margaritas and dinner. Sitting out on the patio, S talked and I listened. I mean she talked ... REALLY. It felt like she stored up all her half of the conversations from Monday through Thursday that we had not had and poured them out that Friday evening. And continued pouring Saturday morning. And Saturday afternoon. Endless talk about work. Less but still lots of conversation about the new baby, about extended family, about the yard. She was sharing, she was decompressing, she was downloading. Initially impatient, I finally realized that. And I'm here to be a good listener. A patient listener, a good listener.