College is great. You get lots of freedom, you have lots of fun, and you make lots of friends…until you have to leave all these perks, along with your pals, for the summer.

As the end of the school year rolls around, you begin to realize that you and your friends will have to part ways. You each go back home and begin summer vacation, only to find that it’s not nearly the same fun and freedom you have with your friends back at school. And thus, the dreaded long-distance friendship begins.

The transition is hard. You go from seeing your friends every single day to constant texting and the occasional FaceTime. From the point of preparing for the goodbyes to the reunion itself, here are the nine inevitable stages of a long-distance friendship, with a little help from Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins to tell the story.

1. Anticipation and Preparation

The reality of actually leaving all your friends sets in, and so does the panic. You try to spend as much time together as possible just to get the dread of the goodbyes out of your head. But alas, it still creeps in.

2. Denial

You both deny that you have to leave your friends and that it won’t really suck. You tell yourself you won’t miss them that much, that the goodbyes won’t be that hard, and most of all, that you won’t cry…that much…

3. The Goodbye Tears

The day arrives too quickly, and you all produce enough tears to fill the Pacific Ocean. A whole summer without your best buds, and you thought you weren’t going to cry? My friend, you thought wrong.

4. Dazed and Confused

Now, we’re transitioning out of college life, and into the stay-at-home life without your friends. On the plus side, you get to catch up on all the sleep you lost throughout the school year! On the down side, the adjustment to summer without your friends means that sleeping is pretty much all you do.

5. Separation Anxiety

Amidst the many text conversations and FaceTime calls, it finally hits you that your best friends are miles away, for the entire summer. It’s a pretty big moment. You miss them terribly, and all you want is to go back to the good ol’ days (which may have only been a few days ago, but you get the point).

6. All The Feels

Anger, sadness, loneliness…all classic symptoms of the long distance friendships. You’re so overwhelmed with all the emotions that you’ll probably snap at one of your family members eventually, but that’s okay! They’ll (hopefully) understand.

7. Stress Eating

The stress from the distance AND the countdown to your reunion is a lot to handle. Thus, you resort to a distraction: Netflix, more sleep, or food! But, fear not, the reunion is near.

8. Acceptance

Eventually, you’ll realize that a few months without your best friends is really no big deal. Yeah, it sucks. But your friendship is not over, and you will reunite with them before you know it.

9. The Reunion

The day has finally arrived! The reunion is so worth the summer-long wait, and you all picked up right where you left off.

So yes, long distance friendships are not very fun. But, there really is nothing like catching up with your friends after the long break. It really is worth the wait.