Summer is over; those feelings are not

Photo via www.betterhelp.com

With Labor Day a few weeks behind us, summer can officially be pronounced over. Those summer flings are now a thing of the past as everyone goes back to school, because what happens during the summer stays in the summer. 

Unless, they aren’t over. We have all been there before right? That guy or girl who you hang out with one time and suddenly find yourself falling head over heels for them. So when move-in days roll around, the talk of a long distance relationship might come to the forefront of you (and your partner’s) mind. You decide to try it out and off to school you go. 

The long distance relationship is not an ideal situation for a lot of people, in fact, some find them to be unsustainable. But for you and your significant other, nothing is impossible… Or that’s how it seems. You two are the couple that Hollywood is going to write their screenplays about, right? However, in all relationships, in some form or another, you will find that some moments are harder than others, whether that be because of fighting or you’re just plain busy. 

Interestingly enough, I have found myself in a long distance relationship — 297 miles long, to be exact. Full disclosure, my relationship started as a summer fling. We had dinner together a couple of times in Oklahoma City, where she lives,  then out of the blue, we wound up sticking it out all the way through school. The journey hasn’t been easy, temptations are always a Snapchat away. The hardest part for us is finding time to get a real conversation in, whether that be via text or FaceTime. We each have a busy schedule, both of us are collegiate athletes, so it’s not easy to find time where both of us are free. 

For every low, there should always be a high, and those are the days we actually get to be together. For example, a couple of weekends ago, we met halfway and spent a day just being together, no care in the world for anything else going on, just enjoying each other’s presence. It’s almost never easy, but it is worth it. We text throughout the day, FaceTime at night, but of course, nothing is the same as being in the same place at the same time. 

The truth is, distance has a way of showing who a person really is. Good or bad, the real “you” will come out. Endurance in any relationship is what makes it successful. Therefore when a day gets busy and you can’t be on your phone very often to text your partner back, that’s when the true colors of a relationship come out. 

Whether it’s a FaceTime, a text or an age-old phone call, communication is key in any relationship. Remember, every relationship has two parts, and you must hold up your end of the bargain every day.