As he drove away from the parking lot, I sat in my car and pushed down the feeling of resentment. I realized how hard it can be sometimes to not see him all of the time when we say goodbye.
A long distance relationship is where every phone call, Facetime and text is essential to keeping the connection alive between a couple. Without the ability to be with your partner every day can be challenging.
Saying goodbye to him when he leaves to go back to school is always the hardest because I don’t ever really know when I will see him next. With his football and being in college two and a half hours away, it’s hard to align our free time every weekend. But it makes the times we do see each other more special.
40 percent of long distance relationships don’t end up working, not because of the miles apart but of the transition through changes in their life, according to creditmonkey.com. Some couples aren’t able to handle being far away from one another which leads to breakups. The one thing that keeps our relationship interesting is how close we are. If we didn’t talk every day I guarantee we would’ve been broken up by now. I feel that my relationship is a shows that the stigma of long distance relationships always ending up disastrous isn’t true in every case. It takes a lot of energy, time and effort to keep the bond between two people together being away from each other.
Some wouldn’t even consider my relationship long distance because there are couples that live in two different countries yet still make it work. But those who live that far from their boyfriend or girlfriend have it way harder than I do because they are forced to go through airplane flights and planning on when they may see each other next.
There is  this stigma about long distance relationships, how they always end in failure. But I think it’s just about how much two people are willing to work at their bond because it will get hard just like any relationship does. Not only is he my boyfriend but when I am going through anything in my life he is the one person I want to talk to about everything. Dating someone who lives farther than a 10-minute drive is difficult because communication among the two of you is harder to have. When your boyfriend or girlfriend is going through a hard time 200 or more miles away, you feel useless. Here recently I was dealing with a lot of things at home, and all I wanted to do was talk to my boyfriend.  Most girls can go see their boyfriend whenever they want, but I was jealous of this because all I could do was talk to him over the phone. At the end of the day, each relationship will have unique challenges and conflicts. For people who are dating people far away from them, you may experience jealousy and miscommunication.
But couples who aren’t living a long distance from each other may see each other too often also creating problems like losing your other friends, or not getting enough time for yourself. When you are dating someone and see them every day you might start to depend on that person too much. One pro about being long distance is that it teaches you to embrace your independence while dating another person. In the past, when I dated a guy that I lived close by we saw each other constantly and ended up getting tired of each other which ruined our relationship. But when I began dating my boyfriend now, at first it was hard for me to get used to the distance until I realized there are pros of being with him while also being independent. Since my relationship with him, it has really changed the person I am for the better.
Not only romantic relationships are long distance. Some friendships are dealing with this situation, as well. My longtime best friend who growing up was my neighbor for 10 years recently moved to Nebraska two years ago. This was a hard transition in my life when she moved because I’m not able to see her like I was used too. I’ve had to make new friends and was forced to distance myself from the person I trusted the most about everything. Having some of the most important people in your life living the farthest away from you is one of the hardest things to deal with.  But one thing I have learned from this experience is that no matter how far my best friend is from me she’s always there for me, and I just have to keep in touch with her through the phone and inconsistent rare visits.
Yes, it’s not always easy and it takes hard work and communication however it is teaching us how to build relationships. Although there are a variety of different reasons why long distance relationships may be hard, the stigma of them doesn’t give these relationships enough credit. If the connection is truly there between two people nothing will break that between them. Whenever I miss my boyfriend or my best friend I try to remind myself that if we can get through this, we’re able to get through even tougher problems. The hard work that couples invest in each other, makes an even stronger bond between them. Sure, there are downfalls, but it is possible to do if both people are committed to one another.