Dear Editor:
Last week I read The Maroon article, “Distance bad for romance,” and was disappointed by its one-sided view of long-distance relationships.
The article opened with one individual’s experience, and how her relationship ultimately didn’t work out.
However, the end of the article used the personal pronoun “you,” as though the writer were predicting the eventual failure of all long-distance relationships.
For readers who might be contemplating a long-distance relationship, this article was a definite downer.
As a college student who has been in a successful long-distance relationship for over two years, I feel the need to encourage Maroon readers to try a long-distance relationship if they have found someone with whom long-distance is the only option.
As the previous article described, it can be rough (and may bring out the jealous side of you or your significant other that you never knew existed) but, like all romantic relationships, it can also be rewarding.
My parents dated long-distance for a period of eight years. All they had at their disposal were telephone calls and mail.
Long-distance relationships have changed since our parents’ generation. Now we have instant-messaging, texting, Skype and other ways of staying in cheap constant communication.
My boyfriend and I use our webcams whenever we’re on the internet at the same time, instant-message constantly, text occasionally and usually talk every night on the phone for a half hour or more.
And still, with all this constant communication, we occasionally argue: we bluster and whine, accuse and complain, but eventually realize that one (or both) of us has ungrounded fears or is overreacting, and, in the end, the long-distance is to blame for making us crazy-paranoid.
As cheesy as it sounds, a successful relationship, long-distance or not, requires good communication skills, trust and honesty: the communication skills to let your significant other know how you feel about him and what he does, the trust to not freak out when he disappears for 12 hours at a time, and the honesty to let him know what you were doing when you were gone for 12 hours the day before (even if it was having drinks with the guy you know he hates).
A long-distance relationship is an extreme test of a couple’s endurance, but if a couple can survive one, I think they can survive practically anything.
Sincerely,
Kathryn Bell
English writing senior
2 comments
There are people in the world who know no misery and pain, they do not like what they have and do not know what they like. But verily I say to you, if they love you they will wait for you no matter how far you are. Think about those who's husbands are gone in war and they know not if they will return alive or not.
Me and partner are from different countries and we would do anything to meet each other. I send flowers and gifts sometimes. We talk on phone every once in a week. But we have financial problems. We have been together since past 3 years and we are determined to spend our lives together till the end. To accomplish this and to make our meeting possible I am studying further so I can earn better and travel, immigrate and so on. Only those who have a good heart and those who are loyal can be happy with long distance relationships.