If you are in the same situation as I am right now, you are halfway through the summer and this "long distance relationship" is becoming easier or harder or both. What I mean by this is; I am getting used to being in a relationship and not seeing him every day, but it is harder because the stronger we get emotionally makes me miss every part of him even more.

From my own experience, I can vouch for the immense amount of times I have missed my significant other, more times than he even knows. The feeling of missing him, the sadness that I cannot just reach through that FaceTime call and hug him, and the times I daydream of memories we have had more than I'd like to admit. It is more than just frustrating, and it takes an extreme toll on a person. But it is of course, well worth it. The good thing is that you are not alone, thousands upon thousands of people do this every day.

The most important part of long distance is communication since it is all you have. The more you talk to each other, no matter how long you have been together, the more you get to know each other. This is what is so beautiful about long distance. You can't touch, but you can still feel so much. Even when there are rough patches, and you can't just grab your significant other to hug them, you are led to speak genuinely from your heart. This right here is probably one of the main reasons these relationships are known not to work out, "miscommunications." So if you are worried about your relationship, it is important to realize that yes; not many relationships like these work BUT the ones that do are so much better because of it. You have to be prepared to try twice or maybe three times as hard, you have to know the person you are with, and you need to love them, always, even when you do not feel like it.

As someone who gets nervous about relationships in the first place, I find myself in my head questioning every detail of my relationship and of ones I have seen fail. One lesson I have gotten out of the relationship I am in now is that long distance is the best relationship test you can go through in my eyes, other than a few like living together, marriage, and having children. It creates a feeling that no one can subdue besides the other person in the relationship. It is just one more thing you can check off, and in my mind of ongoing anxiety, I will take all the checks I can get. One more thing you and your significant other did that makes your relationship just that great. Odds are if you are in a long distance relationship in the first place, they were important enough for you to keep the relationship going. You love that person so much that you chose to love them still even when you could not see them. Therefore, you probably want some time of future or steadiness in your relationship. This helps me so much because when you think about the grand scheme of things, this little time you are spending apart is so minuscule. The one quote I love to read when I fear anything involving relationships is by Peter McWilliams. He once said "It is a risk to love. What if it doesn't work out? Ah, but what if it does." It is a blessing to have someone so worth it, to have someone that you can feel close to while being miles apart when some people can be inches away from each other yet feel nothing.

When you see them, there will be that light in your heart and a feeling in your chest that makes all that time apart from each other worth it. All the long nights spent, all the sharing of how each others days went, the crying of how much you miss each other. It will all be worth it. You will love each other even more. With all the memories you already have and the ones yet to come, this short period of time will mark another kind of memory. A memory and a reminder of how much you want to be with each other and how the person you are with is so worth it.

And remember... "distance makes the heart grow fonder."