Sometimes life throws you curveballs, ones that you don't expect and certainly hoped you would never have to deflect. But, you end up having to face them nonetheless, which means that you have to deal with them. The worst part is that sometimes things are even worse when you have advanced warning.
This summer, I was thrown one of those curveballs: my best friend went abroad for the summer. At first, I was kind of upset, then a little hurt, followed by a number of other miscellaneous emotions. Eventually, I ended up at nostalgic. Afterall, if someone isn't worth your time missing they're gone, they also aren't worth your time when they're not gone.
I'm here to tell you that long-distance relationships, at face value, are a little terrible. They're hard, they make your life a little bit difficult, and sometimes they put a damper in your summer plans for cute pictures and long, relaxing beach days.
But, long distance is also probably one of the best things that could ever happen. It forces you to make the most of the time you have with that person. You begin to appreciate them and all of their seemingly meaningless, little tendencies. For instance, you might not notice the endless amount of podcasts until they're no longer blasting through your car speaker. You also might miss the ridiculous amount of water bottles in the trash can, not recycling, until no one drinks that much water.
Overall, long distance shows you if it's worth it. If it's worth it to take time out of your day and to have a weird sleep schedule to call that person one more time, they're worth it. If it's worth spending a little more time sending them a good morning text each day, they're worth it. And if the mere amount of time you get together is worth the oodles of time you'll spend apart, they're worth it.
More than anything else, I'm here to tell you that they'll always come back. Sometimes the ball goes a crazy direction, and people end up in random places. But, they'll always come back.
It might take a while for them to run the bases, but they'll always come back to home plate. And sometimes that time is the time when you need to cheer them on the most. It's that time that defines a friendship, a relationship, whatever it might be. It's the time that you get to encourage them from the stands and support them in whatever obstacles they might be facing.
It's not going to be easy, after all, I still have 64 more days of cheering. But that's okay because everyone always comes back to home plate eventually.
