Everyday Love Stories: Long Distance Love

Long distance relationships can be so hard. While phones and the internet have made contact and talking easier, it's not the same as being able to see the person your heart wants, to be able to touch and hug and kiss. But for those that are willing to be patient and put into the effort, it is worth the wait. This beautiful story is about such a relationship, written by the gorgeous Vicki....

So I've been with my fiancé, David, for just over ten years. It was like a weird coincidence because simply - we met online. I had just had my heart broken by the ending of a 2 1/2 year relationship and me and my best friend were online on msn messenger (back on the day) when we started chatting to this guy she knew online. Anyway, we were all chatting on webcam and i decided it would be fun to swap numbers with this guy called David so we could carry on text messaging and chatting.  It was my summer holidays, I was 17 and I was bored so I just went for it.

Carry on a few months down the line and we texted constantly and also spoke on the phone. I live in jersey in the UK Channel Islands but I was born in Leeds UK and he was living in Hull UK which is really close by and means we grew up so close but never met and now we were growing really close BUT we had the English Channel and many miles between us.

As we were getting on so well, We eventually decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend which I thought was weird because we had never met and I kinda hid it from other people as I felt like I wasn't quite real. We had many a worry or argument because I refused to feel deep feelings about someone I had never met. so many times I tried to end it all because I thought I couldn't keep liking someone I was never going to have a chance of being close to.

Me and David finally got to meet face to face when me and my family that Christmas were going to visit my family in Leeds. I didn't tell my parents but instead I said I was meeting up with an old school friend (which I was) but I was also meeting up with David for the first time too and we were going to go on a double date. David ended up getting the train to the wrong station and walking for like an hour trying to find where we were meeting (?!?!) but we met and it was cute and awkward and we were shy but it was nice to finally meet. I still wasn't so sure about my feelings but...glad that I had met him finally. 

But then it was back to simple phone calls and text messages and it was really tough and heartbreaking. I would cry on the phone, cry whilst I listened to music because it may have seemed silly but I really loved and missed him. He made me feel happy to be myself when I had struggled with self esteem for so so long. I always felt like I wished I would get attention because I'm quite introverted and low in confidence, and with David I didn't have to try, he just liked me for who I was and adored who I was and how I looked.

So the months dragged being away from him....Then I finally went to university in England in Exeter, the following September and finally we were in the same country. 

So, one year into our relationship he took the 8 hour train journey down to my university to stay with me for a week. I won't go into gross details but having him staying with me, being able to sleep with him next to me was just the greatest feeling. I actually hated university and felt really low and out of place, but I lived for his visits. I actually still felt a bit unsure about our relationship but in reality I think it was fear. I didn't want to feel so attached when we could barely see each other. His trips down were expensive, and as I went to uni for 3 years, he probably only came down to visit a few times a year. 

Finally, I told my family about David even though they were a bit wary due to the massive phone bills we had racked up and the fact that I used the phrases 'met online' and 'long distance relationship' which makes people so unsure and sceptical. 

David also had the chance to come to Jersey and meet my family and stay with me which I loved, and he also came on holidays with my family. I felt like eventually they accepted him and realised that we were serious. Our next big milestone happened when I went to university to do a post graduate degree. It was so uncertain but we both liked courses at the same university in Manchester. So we took the leap and both applied. David had been working super hard to get into university as when he had been at college he had been badly bullied and so didn't do very well with his grades. So he had never really gotten where he wanted, but did a few courses and was now able to apply to uni. So finally, we both got a place at the same university!!! We were living in the same city and we couldn't quite believe it. I felt like I could finally allow myself to love him and fully be in a committed relationship and it was so good. We had the typical rows but it was great, and in our second years we both moved in together and fully shared our lives together.

After we had both graduated, I made the big step to bring David over to Jersey were we both now live together. It's not easy as we have to live with my parents until we have better jobs and get on our feet, but when I stop and think how all these little steps came together it seems like the most unlikely yet huge relationship journey. I like to think we are an example of how very unlikely relationships and long distance loves can work if you just stick by them.

 2 years ago David proposed to me on a super lovely beach where he had my sister and my mums' help to hide a chest with a ring in it and dig it into the sand. I was absolutely terrified and excited all at once and hopefully soon, as we have now been together ten years, we can start planning our wedding!!!

This beautiful story turned me into mush reading it. You can feel the joy of finding love and the heartbreak of being apart, the happiness in finally coming together to live their lives together. I am so glad this wonderful girl let me share such a wonderful and magical love story. 

Till next time, 
Eros