[anxteach]

Anybody else in a long distance relationship (mine's only temporarily long distance for the next 4 months) and struggling? I miss my husband terribly and the house is so lonely.

Do you video chat with each other regularly, like face time? My son is in Italy his wife lives with me, that's what they do. He's been gone since Jan, he comes back to get her in July.

I am a retired military wife, 29 yrs, and my husband was gone twice for 16 month tours when all we had were ph calls every 2 weeks for 15 minutes. There are ways now to stay in contact daily. You need to do all you can to use them.

[Purpledaze]

I was in a very long-distance relationship with my now husband for 3 years before we were married. In those days there was only the phone and it was very expensive! Since then we have had periods of time apart, some harder than others. He has recently started a contract in another city and is away 5 days and 4 nights a week. I am alone in a big house in a foreign country - apart from my three cats who are not bad company! I know the good side is that hopefully I will be able to see friends more. It is not easy especially as we know this is going to be our way of life for at least six months. Will you see your husband during the 4 months he is away? I find the coming and going unsettling at first, but the plus side is that I only have to get through five days at a time.

We use FaceTime to talk 2-3 times a day and IM in between. Seeing the other person makes a big difference to me. A friend suggested we could just leave the connection on in the evenings and carry on doing whatever we were doing, watching tv, etc, and chatting when we feel like it. Haven't tried it yet!

[cato11]

i'm in a long distance relationship right now... since august 2013 i've been in new york and my boyfriend was in washington dc (where we are both from) but around january/february 2014 he actually moved to alaska. he's planning on staying there until august of this year. honestly i have been really lonely and it has been very difficult since we were basically attached at the hip before i left for college in new york but i'm actually surprised at how well it's going despite everything.

we mostly use skype but during the day when i'm at school and/or he is at work we text or keep in touch through facebook. we pretty much have an ongoing conversation all the time -- we will send each other a message when we wake up and check in throughout the day until we can skype (or when one of us goes to bed, haha)

it helps a lot to be getting updates on what he's doing and vice versa pretty much all day because it feels like we are sharing the experiences and neither of us is getting anxious thinking about what could be happening.

we sometimes do what purplehaze's friend suggested -- leaving the video chat on while we watch tv, surf the internet, etc. and it can be nice but of course it's not the same as doing those things in person with your partner so it ends up feeling a bit stilted after a while in my opinion. it is definitely a great thing to do once in a while though.

another thing that can be comforting, particularly if it's not convenient to video chat, is to take a quick picture of yourself and send it to the other person via text/IM/etc. and of course phone calls whenever there's a free moment are nice too.

[NYgirl21]

I was in a long distance relationship for a year, we were able to see each other every couple weeks luckily but I know the feelings of missing him and dreading the thought of the remaining months (I still have 2+ years long distance as he is military). Talk as much as you can, especially over the phone- texting is great but phone and video are better because hearing their voice and seeing them are more personal. Send e-mails, share pictures, talk about your day. As time goes on it will get easier and you will become a stronger couple because of it! And when you reunite it will be amazing Plus, try to put a positive spin on it... you have the house to yourself, do WHATEVER you want to do!!! Go out with friends, pick up a hobby- anything!