Maybe it's not such a bad thing?

CONFESSION

[I am a clingy person.]

You know, you grow up your whole life being taught how to NOT be a clingy person.

It all starts the first time your preschool teacher tells you to get off her lap and go sit in your own chair [you go home crying that day, threatening the life of Mrs. Sweetsnstuff and swearing on the stuffing in your favorite teddy bear that you're never going back]. Eventually though, when you get one more M&M in your treat bag than the next girl, sitting in your own chair doesn't seem like such a problem. You adjust.

Then they throw you into the [ridiculously frightening] world of elementary school and all the sudden instead of group games and class snacks, the only people you can rely on for your basic needs are your parents [and maybe the lunch lady because who doesn't trust a nice old woman with bottomless buckets of bite sized brownie packs].

After you finally get used to Mommy and Daddy handing you your jacket on the way out the door, you're thrown into the [even MORE frightening] world of Junior High. Even less clinging. Now you have to remember your own dang jacket because the folks no longer know which one "goes with the outfit" and the only thing worse than your look clashing, is hearing your name over the school intercom because you forgot something - I mean, people might look at you!

Next. The ultimate cling-free stage. Now the adults are calling it "independence". You hit High School. Not clinging comes pretty easily  now. You don't even want to sit on your teachers' laps anymore [except for your hottie science professor - and that's different]. You do all you're own schoolwork and the "group games" are just annoying. You don't even have to remember to grab anything on the way out the door anymore because you probably just keep it in your car anyway.

You think "This, this is the life!" at least for a while.

Inevitably, down the road, if you're anything like me, you hit another stage.

You need something in your life.

It could be work. It could be religion. It could be school. It could be kids.

For me? It was a boy.

A boy most commonly referred to as Levi Chell Roberts.

I met him, I fell in love with him, I adjusted my life to be with him, and all the sudden, not being clingy, doesn't seem so important. In fact now, I start to wonder why I worried so much before about NOT being clingy. Now I wonder if it even might be a good thing.  But shhhh. Don't tell the grown-ups.

At some point needing things becomes okay. 

"I just have to have my coffee to get through the day at that office!" Clinging. To coffee. To work. It's cool.

"I'm just really focused right now, I want to take double the credits this year so I can finish quicker." Clinging. To school. To growth. That's a good thing too.

And when I'm getting ready for bed and Levi, who usually works for quite a while past my bedtime, says he's coming to bed with me because "I just miss you right now! I definitely did not get enough Amalie today." I think that's clinging too. And I can't get enough of it.

So yes. I'm a clingy person. Call me a sinner.

When I get home from work, I want to be with my man. I love being cuddled. I love being close. I love running to the store just for milk, and not having to go alone. I love sitting in the middle seat of his truck. I love holding his hand tight on the walk to the mailbox and back. I love running with him next to me - even if we're too out of breath to talk. I love being in the same room with him while he works, even if he's focused on what he's doing. I love him. And really, I don't think clinging to what you love, is much of a problem at all. In the end life is what you make it and making it what you love. So cling, people. Cling for dear life. Cling because your life the way you want it, deserves protecting.
 

I wouldn't let it go, for anything.

Short Friday for me, I only worked till noon. Kids are sick. I'm sick. Katie's sick. Seemed like a good day to cut short. Levi was just waking up when I got home so I got to run his errands with him. In the midst of which I couldn't stop coughing so he put his arm around me and said, "Aw babe. You're breaking my heart with all your coughing!" and I fell a little more in love. We stopped by Oregano's for a salad and came home and ate it. Then he got to work and threatened our relationship if I didn't come up and hang out with him while he did so - so here I am. Working next to him. Just enjoying being close. Loving him.
Clinging, clinging, clinging.