Eight hundred and thirty-three miles won’t keep Chechulae McDonald from celebrating this Valentine’s Day. McDonald and her beau, Franklin Palm, have been together for more than two years, and aside from the distance between them, their relationship remains like that of other couples.
“Sure we fight every now and then, but when we’re together, we realize why the distance doesn’t really matter,” McDonald said.
McDonald is a senior at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and recants their love story like Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” only without the devastating ending.
“When we met it wasn’t exactly love at first sight, but we had a great time being together,” McDonald said.
February plays host to President’s Day and Black History Month, but people find time to focus on the love in their lives, or lack thereof, as Feb. 14 approaches.
Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines love as, “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties.” Therefore, love has become not just a physical bond, but an emotional one as well.
More couples are finding it difficult to live in the same city because of job or school location issues. “The hardest part is not being able to see each other whenever we want,” McDonald said. “It can be so lonely at times.”
College sweethearts do their best to maintain the romance in their relationships from coast to coast without getting all wrapped up in college recreations. Even husbands and wives who are promoted by their company, unfortunately in a different state, have to find a way to make their relationship work.
Author of the book, “Loving Your Long-Distance Relationship,” Stephen Blake, offers a Web site focusing on helping couples cope with their opposite coast love
Blake says that distance should not be a reason to end a relationship. He suggests ways for couples to maintain the romance they share when in each other’s presence, and while in different cities.
Blake’s purpose is to help couples make their relationships work.
According to Blake’s book, communication and trust are a major issue with long-distance relationships.
To help couples combat the difficulties they may face, Blake suggests guidelines for everything from phone conversations, how to say goodbye over and over again, to long-distance sex.
Long distance relationships are becoming more common than most people believe.
Online sites such as suite101.com offer articles and advice on love. Visitors to the site can read articles about the trials and tribulations of love and see a list of upcoming social events in their area.
Web sites such as AOL and Yahoo also allow users to create specific chat rooms and Web pages to cope with their long-distance connection.
