I have lived in Virginia Beach my entire life, and until around the summer of last year, I never anticipated that I would meet someone so close and so special to me now. I met my boyfriend at Old Dominion University my junior year in a political organization called Young Americans for Liberty. We eventually ended up going out to lunch, and he told me I looked beautiful and wanted to see me again. So we went to Starbucks, and not to long after that, saw a movie together. He kissed me so good, I could barely walk straight back into my parents’ house. I guess that was the romance movie type of way of saying that was how we declared our love, but it was also only the first date.
I also never anticipated the travel time I would have to make whenever I wanted to see him and that he would have to do the same for me. The travel time between me and him is an eight hour long distance gap between our worlds. Many people would say, and have said to me, that it’s crazy, and I should’ve picked someone to date that’s closer to home. However, I see it as one of the greatest adventures I’ve ever had in my entire life. I had never been on a train before, and I had never driven over an hour to meet someone at their house until I met my boyfriend. I’m here to tell you, it was all worth it to me. Any day of my life now, I would rather take a trip, even if it’s long, to someone who I feel like values me being with them rather than drive thirty minutes to a place where I feel like my presence is not important. Maybe that’s selfish to say, but I personally feel like from all I’ve seen in twenty two years, you make time for who you want to. My boyfriend is so chivalrous to me and is someone I can truly call my best friend. He values me even when I’m not with him at all, is the biggest blessing to me. I would swim across oceans for anyone that treats me the way he does. He may sound like Jay Bruchel when he talks with his New York accent. He may be a NASCAR, hockey, and baseball fan when I am not. He may have different political views than me. He may dream bigger than I ever thought I possibly could. But, differences can be so small when you feel like you have someone that loves you so greatly as God does.
When I was on the train with my mom, halfway to my destination, she was scared to death. She knew nothing about my boyfriend, nothing about his family, and that ride was her first ride on a train as well. As we got closer and closer, we could see snow. This was around January of last year, and we thought we had left all of the snow back in Virginia Beach. We were constantly looking up how many inches I was going to get when I got to Poughkeepsie and how many inches my mom was going to get in New York City. She was going to hit ten in the city, and I was going to hit eight in Poughkeepsie. A ton of panic was breached on that little corner of the train. On the outside I was calm, on the inside, well, of course I was at least a little scared. Then, eventually, I had to venture on another train on my own. I sat beside someone I didn’t know, and she certainly was not friendly. I watched my mom press against the window saying “I love you! Text me when you get there!”. The speaker eventually said the name of the station, I rushed to the back, and off the train I went. Seeing my six foot tall man standing by a pole, I walked as fast as I could to him while trying hard not to slip on any ice. When I finally reached him, he hugged me so tight and I heard a sound that I still never get tired of. His heart was beating so heavy against his chest as he said “I’ve missed you”. We spent every moment after cuddling by the television and watching stand ups from comedians on YouTube, until the night before I had to leave. I had caught a stomach virus and had thrown up and puked all over his bathroom toilet. When he came up to check on me, I looked at him crying and embarrassed, and he told me, “Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’m here for you babe. This is not your fault at all”. While still emotional, I proceeded to clean up the mess while I watched him run up and down the stairs to bring me water and to have my clothes washed. It didn’t end until about five in the morning, and I told myself I would clean up when I woke up next. I was exhausted. Then, I watched him wake up, go to the bathroom, and clean up my mess for me. He never complained, and amazingly, never got sick from me. When we hit the car, he played Disney music for the entire drive back and smiled as I sang along. From the moment on, I knew I was, without a doubt, in love with him.
This past summer, I decided I didn’t want to take the train again, so I decided to drive eight hours. More than half of the drive was following my mom, and the other three hours were all me. My mother was nervous about this as well, so much that she cried the day I came back to meet her. I wasn’t too nervous until I hit signs on the New York Thruway that made it seem like I was headed toward New York City. However, once that past, it was smooth sailing. I honestly didn’t care about all the people on my tail when I was going over 65 mph in the left hand lane because I felt like the people around me should know that I clearly “don’t go here” from my Virginia license plate. The driving wasn’t something I was used to, but I felt like a race car driver, and even now, I’m still getting used to adjusting back to what the speed limit is for when I drive to school. Anyway, when I met him at his house, I was greeted with kisses and the same heart beat that greeted me at the train station. From then, my time there was great. I got to know all three of his cats, went to a county fair, tried fried oreos for the first time, took a walk with him along a trail, went to church, and soon enough I was back home. It all happened so fast, and I can’t wait to see him again. So, friends, readers, ladies and gentlemen, moral of the story is when you make people feel like they matter, even when you feel like they’re different or in another world than you are, there is something beautiful that can come out of it. I have never been happier in a “crazy” long distance relationship with my guy, and I wish the same happiness for all of you one day. If you have found someone that values you and lives in the same state, that’s great too! Cross bridges for them, and make them feel as loved as they make you feel. That relationship is the most beautiful and satisfying kind of relationship there is.