DURHAM — Andrew Bucher missed his girlfriend.

We mean he really, really missed her.

When it was time for Rachel Kenney to arrive home after nine months in Alaska, Bucher wanted to make sure she knew how glad he was to have her back. So, he did what any clear-thinking fellow would do, provided that fellow was head over heels and handy with poster paper.

In the early light of dawn, Bucher erected no less than 18 signs along Route 136 between Freeport and Durham to welcome Rachel.

“UR the best friend ever, I missed you so much,” went one message. Of course, it was broken up in individual signs so one had to drive nearly a quarter-mile to see it all.

“Welcome home Rachel, my amazing girlfriend who is back from Alaska,” said the other array.

Andrew, 25, had made the signs himself, using poster paper from Reny’s and scribbling words of love and devotion.

“When you have a good girl,” Bucher said Friday, “you do whatever you can to show her how you feel.”

We’ll pause here while you go, “Awww!” 

Bucher and Kenney, 22, have been courting for about a year now. Nine months ago, Kenney went off to Alaska to work as a teacher with a home-schooling family. Bucher missed her at once. In December, he got to visit Kenney in her snowy retreat where the couple enjoyed snowmobiling, dog-sledding and all of that good stuff.

But then he was back home and my, how he pined until it was time for her to return.

That happened earlier this week. Bucher left work to drive to Portland where he picked up Kenney at the airport. On the drive back, as they neared her Durham home, Kenney discovered what was waiting on the roadside.

“She was all excited,” Bucher said. “It was cool.”

The signs have come down now, but for a few days, they were a romantic mystery. The Sun Journal, after shooting video of the lovelorn display, appealed to its readers to identify the couple in question. Bucher and Kenney emerged and the rest is history.

And while the hoopla surrounding the signs adds to the fun, Bucher is not likely to forget what really matters.

“She’s back,” he said. “Rachel is the most amazing girl, and I like her so much.”

Obviously.