I’m probably the last person you’d expect to be in a long distance relationship. Or a relationship at all. It still surprises me.

Relationships in general can be stressful. But adding 400 miles between two people is like adding 400 new possible problems.

I’m a junior in high school. He is a freshman in college. I’m in Texas. He’s in Arkansas. Sometimes we make sacrifices for the people we love.

I am so thankful for technology that allows us to stay connected. I can text him or FaceTime him at any time. He is only a phone call away. That can’t be so bad right? Oh, but it is. It just isn’t the same. If I’m lucky, I get to see him once a month. Since there are a lot of Leopard alumni at Arkansas, he sometimes gets to ride down with people.

But going from seeing someone all day everyday to only a weekend every month isn’t easy. But somehow, we make it work.

Trust is a big aspect to a long distance relationship. Yes I sometimes doubt what he is actually doing up there in his free time or at parties. But I have eyes everywhere. My sister also attends Arkansas. They are friends and have the same friend group. I probably would say he is keeping an eye on her more than the other way around; but I all I know is I’m blessed to have them both.

Long-distance relationships take sacrifices. It’s hard seeing couples around the school or around town. Just seeing them holding hands or being with each other makes me sad. I envy them.

Meanwhile, I have learned the art of third wheeling. Now that I don’t have him around, I don’t have much to do. My grades have greatly improved since he left. Solely because I don’t have anything to do or any plans. You could say I also miss out on things normal high schoolers do. I don’t go to “parties” as much, and I don’t go hangout with groups of people. He feels bad for me for “missing out”. But I don’t think of it like that.

We do our best to make it as normal as possible. I don’t want him missing out on his college experience. I encourage him to go out and have fun; do everything a normal college kid would do. The last thing I want to do is hold him back. He knows right from wrong and he knows what would upset me and what wouldn’t.

I think I’m doing him a favor by keeping him out of trouble, well as much as I can prevent. He also tries to keep me from missing out too much on my high school experience. He came back and surprised me at our homecoming football game. He stayed for the weekend and let me get all dressed up and took me out to dinner. After, we went to the lake where he parked his truck, got out, and asked me if I would like to dance.

We have to do things a little differently, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. Not everything plays out that nicely, he wasn’t here for my birthday, our one-year, and I missed his birthday. He and some of his friends went to dinner to celebrate his 19th birthday. My sister was invited and she called me to ask if I minded. The hardest part about that was my sister was able to go to his birthday dinner and I couldn’t. It was  difficult not getting to spend the day with him.

But this year we got to spend Valentine’s Day together. I drove up with his family, watched his lacrosse game, and stayed the weekend with my sister.

Being apart has made me realize and cherish the time we have that much more. Every relationship has its problems, and this happens to be our biggest one.

Long distance relationships aren’t easy, but they aren’t impossible either.