This Is the Amazing Life Whistleblower Edward Snowden Left Behind

Now, Snowden is on the run in Hong Kong, reportedly running out of cash after weeks spent in a hotel. He faces an unclear future—numerous government officials have brought up the possibility of extradiction, and the feds are reportedly building a case that will bring serious charges against him. He's also (shockingly) been fired from his job at Booz Allen. He may go to Russia next, he's also considered Iceland, and Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is telling him to take to Latin America.

But let's get back to the girlfriend. According to multiple reports, after Snowden took a job in Hawaii, the Maryland Institute College of Art grad moved from the continental U.S. to follow him. She kept up a now-deleted blog that chronicled the move with the guy she called “E,” who left her on the islands, never told her about his plan, and allegedly flew to Hong Kong without saying goodbye. Mills isn't taking it well:

For those of you that know me without my super hero cape, you can probably understand why I’ll be refraining from blog posts for awhile. My world has opened and closed all at once. Leaving me lost at sea without a compass. Surely there will be villainous pirates, distracting mermaids, and tides of change in this new open water chapter of my journey. But at the moment all I can feel is alone. And for the first time in my life I feel strong enough to be on my own. Though I never imagined my hand would be so forced.

As I type this on my tear-streaked keyboard I’m reflecting on all the faces that have graced my path. The ones I laughed with. The ones I’ve held. The one I’ve grown to love the most. And the ones I never got to bid adieu. But sometimes life doesn’t afford proper goodbyes. In those unsure endings I find my strength, my true friends, and my heart’s song. A song that I thought had all but died away, when really it was softly singing all along. I don’t know what will happen from here. I don’t know how to feel normal. But I do know that I am loved, by myself and those around me. And no matter where my compass-less vessel will take me, that love will keep me buoyant.

 

And this is the girl he left behind, via Buzzfeed:

Commitment to the cause, huh? That's a life the vast majority of us would not want to stop living.

[H/T: Daily Mail]