Long Distance Relationship

Dear Amy,
I'm in high school (last year). My boyfriend and I have been dating for 8 months on the 19th. School is halfway over and he wants to move to away for college from 4-6 years of schooling. Me on the other hand, I'm staying here to go to college. I have been worried about it for a while and I know it's probably typical, but what do you think of long distant relationships? I feel it will be hard but I'm willing to take the chance of it means being with him in the future. Any advice for this?

Dear Long Distance,

      The big challenge in maintaining a healthy long distance relationship is keeping the lines of communication open. Because you won’t be physically near one another, you have to create the intimacy in your relationship in other ways….mostly via talking, texting, emailing, Skype and whatever other modes of communication are open to you. People do this all the time with varying degrees of success. Consider all the military families that keep their relationships going even with long separation. Does it always work? No. But it is possible if you are both willing to talk openly and to support one another.
     So, one thing that I would have you consider is this. You’re both very young and you’re going to experience some really big things now in college and you’ll be experiencing it apart from one another. If you want to stay together, then do so. But be willing to be open and honest with one another as things change in your lives. That way, no matter what happens, your relationship will always be a happy place for your both. Sometimes we get stuck on the idea of what we think should happen and we forget to allow for people to change and grow. Be flexible. Be kind. Be there for one another.

Amy