A lot of people are in long distance relationships for, at least, a little while during university. Things like Summer, holiday breaks, and even sticking with your high school sweetheart can create physical distance between people in a relationship. Distance is difficult and everyone knows it. When you get right down to it, is it the miles that really matter?
My relationship consists of myself, my boyfriend, and roughly 3,500 miles of ocean, salt spray, pebble beaches, and motorways. His 7:00 A.M. good morning is my 2:00 A.M. and there is a reason we only have about an hour per day, (tops!), of speaking to one another. On Fridays, we Skype. And when my video finally connects to the chat and his face lights up, the depths of the sea and the long lines of city traffic no longer separate us. He smiles as I tell him about my week and I do the same. Right then, the distance no longer really matters.
In two weeks, the distance will shift to just under 2,000 miles with mountains, languages, and the 21-mile width of the English Channel being the only obstacles that separate us. Then, my 6:00 A.M. good morning will just be his 4:00 A.M. good morning and I will try to teach him the new words I learn and the new foods I try. Right then, the distance will not matter.
I envy my friends who post photographs on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat of their significant others cooking breakfast, driving to a date, and kissing them. No snap or post will capture just how it feels to see my boyfriend illuminated with a halo made of those green airport fluorescents. No post will show just how much his chest swells when I let my tears flow over when he takes me to see the Parthenon marbles for the first time. Also the second, and probably the third. The distance makes all of these indescribable feelings worth it.
We have all been there, posting a little picture on Facebook, leaving university for the Summer, and sending small texts throughout the day to keep ourselves happy and hopeful for the future. So no, it is not the miles that separate us from our partners that ultimately matters. What matters is the security and hope that comes forth from a strong relationship. What matters is the tickle in your stomach when it has been a tough day and your phone buzzes with a short text from your significant other. What matters is the feeling that lingers when you have boarded the plane, after you have washed the outfit from your first date for the tenth time, after the last flower from that last bouquet has died, after the sea that separates the two of you crashes against the rocks and drags the crumbs back to the depths.
