Missing Ben

My husband is working in Samoa this week, lining a water tank at the temple. At first I thought I might die of loneliness without him. I think I cried three times the day he left, and I’m not even a crier. I knew he would be gone for eight days and I couldn’t believe how long the first day lasted. It was like an eternity.

Now it has been one week, and he was supposed to be home tomorrow morning. Well it turns out that the Air New Zealand flight attendants are on strike, so his flight got canceled. He had a choice—he could fly home on a different airline and get to Salt Lake City at about the same time he would have on the canceled flight, or he could stay with Air New Zealand and fly to New Zealand, staying there for free for two days before coming home. Don't ask me why the flight attendants for his flight were on strike, but he could still fly to New Zealand. I don't get it either.
When he told me his options, it sounded like he wasn’t even considering the New Zealand choice. I wasn’t considering it either, because I just wanted him to come home as soon as possible. But when I started thinking about it, I realized that we were being crazy and of course he should go to New Zealand for free. When will he ever get that chance again? I already passed up a trip to New Zealand once, mostly because I hate sitting on airplanes for long periods of time, so I knew I would probably never go there with him. So I sucked it up and told him I thought he should go to New Zealand if he wanted to.

Today he called me from the airport in Samoa and said he had decided to go to New Zealand. Even though I was secretly disappointed because I can’t stand the thought of two extra days of boredom and loneliness and I miss him more than I ever thought possible, I’m actually really excited for him and also totally jealous. I hope he comes back really big and tan, with a huge tattoo on his face.