I love to plan things. I’ve always been a planner. When I was ready to date someone, I had a plan. I’d date a person in my college town because being away from them for so many months would be too hard. A long-distance relationship was not something I wanted. I had experience to know.
I thought all of that was great until this guy waltzed into my work. We started talking, and I recommended a book to him. While he didn’t actually buy that book, he did buy me lunch. We talked for almost the whole day. He asked if he could maybe stop by the next day after he had time to consider what book he wanted. He did come back the next day with a coffee for me – the one I’d said the day before I’d been excited to try.
I swooned.
Within a month, we were dating. I had been completely swept off my feet. After six months, I still feel the exact same way. We’ve spent one semester apart, and we’ve just begun our second. He works full-time, and I’m a full-time student with a part-time job. We live two hours away. Needless to say, we don’t always see a whole lot of each other.
Regardless, I don’t worry about us. When we do have time to text, we make goofy jokes and talk about our days. We call, we cry and we worry together. There’s nothing that I keep from him, and I believe he gives me the same courtesy.
I never believed that a long-distance relationship would work for me, but I’ve come to understand that, with the right person, any arrangement helps love flourish.
We didn’t spend his birthday or Valentines’ together. We are lucky enough that we only live two hours away. I came home the weekend before his birthday to celebrate.
I’ve learned to appreciate the tiniest gifts. When we get to talk on the phone, a random and unexpected text throughout the day and the times I get to do something for him, like order a pizza or send him a gift.
Since we don’t spend all of our time together, we always have a lot to talk about, and we have the future to look forward to.