After having been geographically separated from my wife for 16 of the last 24 months, we have gotten used to the long separations. We IM and e-mail each other regularly. We talk on the phone when our schedules permit it. We send each other little gifts to show that we are thinking of each other.
Has anyone else maintained a long distance relationship?
How long were you separated for?
What did you do to keep the relationship strong?
Any suggestions for others who may be facing a geographical separation?
Has anyone else maintained a long distance relationship?
Yep. right now.
How long were you separated for?
Still are - going on 4 years apart.
What did you do to keep the relationship strong?
Thank god for the internet, and thinks like Yahoo voice chat and GoogleTalk. We talk every day. And of course we see each other, but not nearly as often as we’d like.
Any suggestions for others who may be facing a geographical separation?
It’s not easy. There are moments when I’m certain we can’t do it anymore. And yet we do. My suggestions are to talk as often as possible, communicate a lot about how you’re feeling, and make sure to continue living lives of your own. It isn’t easy living a single person’s life when you’re in love with someone, and it can be very lonely. And coming up with new things to talk about if you don’t have things in your life that are new and interesting. Staying home every night because you don’t have her with you, or vice versa, will only lead to increased loneliness, and possible resentment.
Trust.
That’s it - that’s all I got. Did it for twoish, threeish years with then boyfriend, now spouse, during college. It won’t last if you don’t trust each other.
It helps that I’m not the jealous type, and neither of us are the cheating type.
And having your own life is a good thing. We’d call each other, but we’d never get angry if one of us had to leave a message in case the other was out. There wasn’t any pining (at least, not when there was fun to be had. Pining there was, and lots of it.)
LDRs suck, but you can get through them. As long as you trust your partner unconditionally.