“It's been a year and 3 months since we've kissed, and I rather have the ghost of his mouth on my lips than kiss anyone else.” ― Alishah Khan
It hasn’t been a year and 3 months since I’ve seen my significant other, but I understand the sentiment behind this quote. Since I graduated high school, I have been in a long-distance relationship. At first it was only a 45-minute drive away. We could easily see each other every weekend. Now it is 1,782 miles and a 4-hour plane ride away.
I’ve heard the statistics, the success stories, and the not so successful stories about long distance relationships when you’re in college. There has been support and there’s been the occasional “What? No way! You’re so brave, I could never be in a long-distance relationship” to which I just have to smile and say thank you.
I don’t feel brave for being in a long-distance relationship. It’s hard. We fight, more than the typical relationship, and I’m willing to bet we love harder than the typical relationships. A long-distance relationship is not for the fair-hearted or easily jealous people. There have been times that I question how I am even doing this anymore, but I know that the love that I have for my significant other far surpasses any hardship we face.
The thing about relationships is that there is no pattern, no predictability, it’s all up to the people in the relationship to make it work or for it to fall apart. The studies out there, they don’t sign the death sentence on your relationship just because it says 40 percent of all long-distance relationships end with a break-up.
We have managed to stay together for almost 3 years in a long distance relationship because we are constantly adapting to the different dynamic of our relationship. We don’t have weekly date nights; we get FaceTime dates. Movie nights are incredibly difficult, but thanks to the Internet, we figure it out.
Too often, people want things to come easy to them. They believe that relationships are supposed to be easy, that if you love someone then it shouldn’t be hard to want to stay with them. Social media has told us that if it gets difficult, then you shouldn’t be with that person.
I’m so grateful that instead of listening to what other people were telling me about my own relationship, I listened to my heart. Staying with my boyfriend throughout all of the drama, distance and heartache has been the greatest thing I could have done. Not only do I get to be in a relationship with my best friend, I also have a reason to go to Florida more often.
So if you’re considering breaking up with someone because your relationship is moving toward the long-distance, I highly encourage you to try to make it work. If you can make it 4.5 months, then you’ve already beaten the odds. Make it work, make it your relationship, not what other people tell you about it.
