Long distance relationships can be challenging at times. Holidays, like Valentine’s Day, that are centered around love and being together when you can’t be together in person to celebrate, really highlight those challenges. Being surrounded by cute couples,adorable dates, and presents all day long makes you miss your person like crazy.
My boyfriend and I met for the first time in a public speaking class on February 13, 2017 and our love story blossomed from there. All I want when it comes to Valentine’s Day are the typical gifts: flowers, a teddy bear, chocolates, love letters, and the romantic date that all movies have trained us to expect. Ironically, we spent last Valentine’s Day fighting on the phone on the verge of a breakup. This year, we are determined to have a lovely Valentine’s Day date over video chat. I don’t know if he plans on giving me a gift, but I’m writing him a letter. Even though we will be talking on the phone, I feel like letters are more personal.
Unable to take enough time off to celebrate in person, we’ve decided that dinner and watching movies over FB video call is the way to go. I’ve got to say, I’m incredibly glad I live in a time where instantaneous video calls are a reality. I miss my boyfriend, but being able to eat and watch movies together when we’re 400 miles apart is pretty cool. I can’t even imagine long distance relationships in the old days when you would send a letter and wait weeks for a response. That’s why I think I have such an appreciation for and desire to receive love letters. There’s something so much more special about sending a letter instead of a text. I wrote a love letter for my boyfriend soon after moving in with him and he hung it on the wall and looked at it every single day. At first, I was embarrassed by it being displayed for everyone to read, but after we became long distance and I saw it was still up when I came to visit, it reinforced our love and the lasting nature of our relationship.
