One hour and forty minutes or one hundred and two miles. You can measure the distance that separates us in any possible way, but it still cannot diminish the bond I share with the girl I love. I always used to see and hear about how people were in long distance relationships with their boyfriend or girlfriend and it amazed me how they were able to work it out; I never really believed in love, let alone love over distance. But that all changed on June 10th, 2017, when it all began with my best friend and girlfriend, Katherine Ann Gardner.
Before it all began, I never truly felt love nor did I understand it. It seemed like all of my friends were in relationships and found their soulmates, while it felt like the only girl I had in my life was my dog, Lexi. But what everyone says is true, the best things really do happen unexpectedly. One moment, you’re feeling down because it seems like you will never find “your person” and then all of a sudden they appear out of nowhere. You just have to keep your mind and your heart open, and most of all, be patient.
I’ll never forget when we met, and our first date together. We went to Starved Rock on a hot Saturday in June. I remember being so nervous because I really liked her and had no clue if she felt the same way or not, but in the end, everything did work out. We spent the whole summer together, and I can honestly say there is no one else I would have rather spent this past summer with. As always the summer went by entirely too fast and I can still remember the anxiety I felt when I realized we go to two different schools, and that we were going to be apart from each other for a while.
But that’s when I learned that love really is so much stronger than distance. You see, her and I already live far apart. She lives near Milwaukee in Wisconsin, and I live in Crystal Lake up in the northwest suburbs of Illinois. So even throughout the summer, we didn’t worry about the distance at all because we had each other, and that is more important than distance or any factor that separates us. Because when you’re with someone you love more than anything, distance and time become small, irrelevant factors that you begin to forget about.
My message is that it is all true, love is so much stronger than distance. It is a lot stronger than you realize, especially when you’re in love with your best friend. I’ll admit, there are sometimes when we can’t see each other for 2-3 weeks and I feel pretty sad, but I just remember that I can talk to her whenever I want and that this distance is not going to last forever. There is going to come a day when the longest we’ll be apart from each other is a couple hours instead of a couple of days or weeks. And for anyone who is in a long distance relationship, then you understand what I'm going through.
Sometimes it can be hard because you want to be with that person more than anything, but you just have to remember if you truly love that person, then you will see the strength in your relationship. Whether it’s 100 miles or 1,000 miles that separates you and the person you love, love will always find a way, and I hope for those of you who are in long distance relationships that you remember this and never forget it.
Love > Distance.
