When people think of relationships, it usually is something like going out on your weekly dates.
Coming home to one another after a long day of class or work. Being able to take up each others time by going on random movie adventures, or going to get half off apps on a late Wednesday night because you're hungry.
You are with your best friend all the time. That is a relationship to most people.
But for me, that's not the case.
My relationship is one of those things that scare people, what they say will never work out in the end. I am in a long distance relationship and I am here to tell you that I wouldn't trade it for the world because he is my person.
Dating your best friend is the absolute best thing in the entire world. They are by your side through everything, they are your right-hand man, they are the person that you think about constantly and care about more than you can admit.
But now your best friend is an hour away, maybe four, or maybe even across the country. All that matters is that they are not physically with you each day. What people don't get is that you don't always have to have that person physically by your side to care about them or love them.
FaceTime or Skype become your best friend.
You depend on the 'Good Morning' and 'Goodnight' text messages. Communication gets you through the time until you are able to see one another next. Physicality is important, but not as important as communication is in a relationship. But when you see each other, it is truly amazing.
When you don't get to see each other every single day, your heart misses them. You want to be able to go get breakfast the next morning or cuddle and watch that scary movie on a Friday night. It's hard. It is so hard it hurts.
You count the days, hours, minutes until you see them next. But that moment you see them after an amount of time which seemed like forever makes it all worth it. You wrap your arms around them and you never want to let go. That moment is something you have dreamed about for weeks, and now it's here. It's your prize, it's something you will always remember and never want to let go of.
You spend your time together, it goes by fast because you are loving every second. Then you have to say goodbye until the next time you see each other.
Of course, the goodbye sucks, but you hold on to that one moment when you first saw them until you are able to do it all over again.
Distance also gives us the time to be able to be us, achieve our own goals, be our own people. I am able to do everything I want to do to better myself as a person on my own and know that I did it on my own, while he is able to do the same.
Having space can also be a blessing, just to make sure that our heads are still on straight. That we aren't so swallowed up in each other lives that we forget about our own. We have our own personal agendas.
But at the end of the day, we are able to share everything with one another. We can be our own people, but still always have one another.
In conclusion, I love my long-distance relationship.
I love being able to care about someone even though they aren't down the street from me. I love that when I see him, it makes it that much more special. I love that I have someone there for me 24/7 even though he is hours away from me. I love that we are able to work towards our own personal success while still having one another.
I love having my person. I love us. I'm proud of us. We are great.
To everyone who says long distance doesn't work, I guess you just haven't found your person yet.