"This is what I imagine love to be: incompleteness in absence"

— Edmond de Goncourt

While the bride and groom were enjoying time with family in Stockholm, they waited to hear back from the embassy that Oscar's visa had been processed. They had been told to plan for two to three weeks, but as their trip passed the third week, it became clear that Alexis would need to head back west and Oscar would need to wait a bit longer. Weeks turned to months as Sweden became dark and snow covered and they continued wait. Alexis was able to visit again for Christmas, the nine day trip being much too short a reprieve from their time apart. On the last night of her visit, over New Year's Eve dinner at the Grand Hotel, they reminisced about the goals they had set and reached during the year. They had moved in together, both had taken on new jobs, they met baby Sofia, Alexis climbed Mt. Whitney, and Oscar launched his VR app. They pondered what goals they should set for the year to come, and getting engaged was the first on the list. The next morning, they once again had to part just before airport security, with no idea of when they would be together again. As if they needed clarity on how essential they were to each other, the separation left them with an acute feeling of amputation. They filled the gap as best they could with phone calls in the late nights and early mornings and weekend movies over Facetime. In the end, it was over five months of waiting, before Oscar was able to come back home. They embraced at the San Fransisco International arrivals gate, relieved to be made whole again. Their world was back in order.

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