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I think every relationship needs work. A long distance relationship has somewhat unique advantages and disadvantages. In my own experience, it's easy to put the relationship on the back burner because its not there staring you in the face every day. But an advantage is that you have that honeymoon stage over and over again. You are more likely to over look those little annoyances that will drive you crazy when you get back together physically on a permanent basis (until things level out again).
When my relationship was long term, we didn't have the advantage of the internet and he spent every penny he earned on the phone bill (calling twice a month and on special occassions). But we wrote every single day, sometimes more than once a day. In my opinion we revealed more about ourselves in those letters than if we had never been parted.
We were seperated for more than a year. He came home for a short time after a year, then it was another six months before we were able to see one another on a regular basis. That first short visit we were still on "guest" behavior. There was a bit of an adjustment period. Not only were we strangers in a way, but both of us were used of doing what we wanted without taking anyone else into concideration.
It takes a bit of work and a lot of patience, but no more than a traditional relationship (just in different areas). I don't mean to be dismissive but ALL relationships have an ebb and flow. Communicaiton is key.
Your connection may not be the same for a very long time. In my case the only time I saw my husband again on a full-time basis was when we got married. We probably made our path more difficult than necessary by having kids right away. We had just begun to discover the people that we had become when we threw a new little person in the mix.
The reason I bring that up is because until our youngest children started school we had very little time to dedicate to just he and I. It wasn't until that time that we found that relationship we originally had.
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I've been married for 24 years and have four wonderful children.
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