With COVID-19 now causing the majority of the United States to shelter in place for at least the next month, a lot of you are probably separated from your partner. If you don’t live together and you’re taking the shelter in place rule seriously, you’ve basically been forced into a long-distance relationship by this damn pandemic. Now, fortunately and unfortunately for me, I’m very used to doing long-distance with my boyfriend. We started dating in October 2017, and began long-distance when we both moved to separate colleges 6 hours away from each other in September 2018. We’ll be closing the distance this coming fall (woohoooo!!), buuut now that he’s home for spring break, our time together has been taken away because of COVID-19, and we’re staying apart despite finally being less than 10 minutes away from each other.
So, I wanted to write this post to help those of you who are NOT used to long-distance and now need to adapt to it. It’s already such a hard thing to do, but when it’s literally caused by a pandemic, it’s a whole other story. I asked some of my friends who are in long-distance relationships to share any tips they had to give to YOU, if you and your partner are now learning to keep a healthy relationship while being apart. Here are the top pieces of advice I received from fellow long-distance friends about keeping your relationship alive & healthy, and my own ideas for what to do while you’re apart!
Advice from my friends:
Savannah Totten:
“-Letters letters letters!!! Even if you can call and text, receiving a letter in the mail just feels like a piece of their heart was sent to your mailbox.
-Don’t keep yourself locked in your room. I know it’s easy to do when you’re sad. But stay busy if possible. Go outside if possible.
-Praying and journaling and talking to other people about what you’re struggling with. Don’t keep the emotions inside. Let ‘em out.”
Makenna Miner:
“I’ve been in a long distance relationship with Brendan for 8 months and I haven’t seen him in 2 months. My advice is to try and:
-Video call everyday if you can.
-Send pictures of what you’re up to throughout the day, what tasks you’ve completed, or things that remind you of them.
-Be sure to ask your significant other if there is anything you can help them with since there is a good chance they might be feeling overwhelmed right now.
-Be patient if they’re busy and you are not – realize that since you’re away from each other, their attention will not always be on you.
-Send songs to each other or make playlists and update the playlists so they have something new to listen to that they know was meant for them.”
Cymbre Kohrn:
“Communication, even if your S.O. is just doing homework or anything that’ll mean they can’t talk as much – telling them what’s going on so you know why their responses are slower. And getting to hear about their day, even if it was boring. It’s nice to feel like they’re including you by talking to you about it even if it’s nothing special.”
Mariel Cadenas:
“I usually schedule a “date night” every other day, where we watch a movie we’ve wanted to watch for a while, or a documentary or simply just a time to catch up and share feelings. We also downloaded quiz games and chess apps that are activities we both love to do and want to keep doing together.❤️”
5 Ideas of what to do while you’re apart:
I hope these tips were helpful, and know that you are NOT alone in being apart from your partner. Remember that this is TEMPORARY, not permanent. You’re always welcome to shoot me a message if you’re struggling or need someone to talk to. We WILL get through this!
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