I've been in a long distance relationship for a long time. I've gone through the honeymoon phase, the enjoying one another's silence phase, and I'm now in the horrible, open flatulence phase. My boyfriend and I have had serious fights, taken big relationship steps, and have even nearly ended the relationship once. I think these are all things normal, healthy couples experience. There are ups and downs, but at the end of it we work together to solidify our relationship and keep it strong. I'm proud of my relationship with my boyfriend, but I find that others don't seem to be happy for me. Not after I bring up the fact that it's a long distance relationship.

I've heard a lot of things, from simple acquaintances, to close friends, and worried family members alike. I've accumulated a lot of quotes that really struck me as odd, inappropriate, or just straight up hurtful.

Don't get me wrong, there are tons of people out there who are just curious or concerned. They just want to protect the people involved. Having been in a long distance relationship myself for the last four years, having kept most of it a secret from my family at all, I have come to completely understand that we, people in long distance relationships, need to be more open about it. In the future, as technology becomes even more prevalent and even better suited to support romantic relationships long distance relationships will be more normalized. Until then, though, we're tasked with explaining it to people who just might not understand it. I mean, how upset can we really get if we don't bother to even just try to explain it to others?