When you’re in a long distance relationship, there are a lot of struggles along the way. The holiday season is a big one. It’s one thing to go weeks — even months — without seeing your significant other, but it’s another when it means missing out on holiday celebrations.
It makes it easy to give up on the Christmas spirit. It's easy to trick yourself into thinking that holidays aren’t that important, and you’ll be fine without the happy parties and cheery carols. You can pile up your workload and take on extra shifts to keep yourself busy, and not think about how much you miss them. You can Bah Humbug your way through the holidays, but you’ll never truly come to peace this way.
No matter how busy you are, there will be moments that it hits you. No matter how much you do, you can’t avoid the fact that you’ll be missing your significant other on every holiday this year.
You won’t be able to share your green bean casserole with them at Thanksgiving, making sure that they get all the crunchy pieces on the top. They won’t be able to sneak you the last dinner roll because they know you could eat them all night. You won’t be able to throw extra whipped cream on their pumpkin pie, just ‘cause.
You won’t be able to decorate the tree or hang up lights together. You won’t be able to cuddle up by the fire and drink hot chocolate while watching Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas or ABC Family’s 25 Days of Christmas. You won’t be able to kiss them under the mistletoe or under the fireworks when the clock strikes midnight.
You won’t be able to go snowboarding and experience the winter snowfall together. You won’t be able to adventure into the mountains together and almost freeze to death because you didn’t bring enough jackets and blankets.
But there are things you'll be able to do. You can FaceTime or Skype as often as your schedules allow. (Pro tip: Don’t make yourself too busy just to try not to think about it. The busier you are the less time you have to FaceTime). You can listen to music and watch movies that remind you of them. You can still go on adventures and better yet, enjoy them.
You can tell your significant other how much you appreciate their commitment to you and your relationship. You can send gifts. (Pro tip: “gifts” does not have to mean expensive jewelry. They could be handwritten letters — even notes — that say “I miss you,” “I love you,” or “I can’t wait to be able to spend holidays with you one day.”)
You can still experience the Christmas spirit. You can even do it with them, just from afar. You can share your favorite holiday memories and wait to build up more. You can appreciate the fact that you’re a distance away for a reason, and one day, it won’t be like this anymore. One day, you’ll be able to spend every holiday season doing the things that you can only dream of doing now.
For now, you can love the life you’re living, and know that distance really does make the heart grow fonder.
