As I walk around campus, I often see couples holding hands and laughing together. It makes me miss my boyfriend who attends a different college, six hours away. Although some days I really miss him, being away from each other makes us appreciate the time we do have together even more and allows us to have a different perspective on our relationship.
I saw couples heading out for dates over the weekend and on Valentine’s Day, making me envious of their ability to see one another so frequently. With long distance relationships you have to learn to love the different ways of spending time together. My boyfriend and I make sure to have “facetime dates” and designate time to really talk to each other, despite our busy and often conflicting schedules. For Valentine’s Day we sent each other gifts, which we opened on the phone and just enjoyed each other’s company…virtually. While I enjoyed talking to him it made me sad knowing other people were physically together for the holiday. However, I talked to numerous other people, who actually did the same thing as us! Swiping through Instagram Stories, I saw countless Valentine’s Day posts of people with significant others that they were doing long distance with, and many of my friends are doing long distance too! It made me realize that it isn’t uncommon, and it can be done. Long distance enables me to have time to myself and time to focus on what I need to do; but at the same time, I have him to text and talk to everyday and look forward to the times I will be with him in person. I’m not saying it’s easy by any means, but if it’s the right person, it’s worth it.