Long Distance Hurdling

As his silhouette began to disappear in my rearview mirror, the lump grew in my throat and tears crept to the surface of my eyes. I put my sunglasses on as if to hide, but there was no one to hide from. I was alone in my car, heading back to my now empty apartment. It had finally hit me; I was officially in a long distance relationship.

I’ve been dating my boyfriend for two and a half years and for almost two of those years, we have lived together. For two years, I have been coming home everyday to him. Every night we would have dinner together, curl up on the couch and talk to about our day. When I’m stressed, I always give him a hug and snuggle my face into his chest. It’s my safe place and where I always feel accepted and loved. Sometimes I just end up yelling at him when I’m stressed and upset, but he never takes it personally and always knows how to calm me down.

After being with someone and living with him or her for two years, you find yourself relying on them more than you realize. It’s a strange feeling sitting here in my empty apartment. The television is turned on to a show I’ve never heard of just so it’s not so quiet. This new hurdle in my life has turned into quite a difficult barrier. I’m just glad Skype was invented, that is a long distance relationship savior. Now I’m waiting for that whole teleporting thing.

It will be two weeks before I see my boyfriend again and I know that doesn’t seem like a lot. I have many friends who haven’t seen their significant others for weeks or months, but I’m not comfortable yet with this new hurdle. I’m hoping with time that it will get easier, but I don’t think leaving him after a visit will ever get easy.  I wish I could offer advice to other couples going through this experience, but honestly, I’m hoping for the advice.  The chick-flicks I watch never show how hard a long distance relationship really is and some how it all always works out for those couples.

 

My relationship can be comparable to the movie “Like Crazy.” If you’re not familiar with the movie, here is a quick run down. A British girl falls in love with an American boy well attending college in the United States. Unfortunately, the British girl over stays her visa and in banned from the U.S. A barrier they have no control over separates the couple. Luckily, my boyfriend didn’t overstay his visa, but as a Canadian citizen, his visa did run out. Unlike the movie, there is no ocean separating us, but it’s still a barrier.

We’re both figuring everything out, but while some couples are trying to figure out what city or state they want to live in, we’re trying to decide what country we will live in. While some couples might be thinking about moving in with once another, we have to figure out how we’re going to be able to live with each other again. There are many hurdles presenting themselves to my boyfriend and I, but we’re learning to jump over them and grow as a couple.