I am 25 years old and I live in Boston, MA and I am currently enlisted in the Service. My boyfriend lives in California. We have been in an LDR for about a year and a half, and it never gets any easier. I get deployed quite often and usually for long periods of time. I thought having an LDR would be hard enough but when you know that after deployment you are still coming home to an empty home, it hurts. My boyfriend moved out to Cali to be with him family after he served 4 years in the service as well. I didn't think it would be that hard to keep it together, but as time passes, it gets even harder than I ever could have imagined. With my deployments it makes it difficult for us to see each other because I never know how long I will be away for, so when I do come back, we have to purchase last minute flights that, you all know, is very expensive. With the military pay and my boyfriend's being self-employed we don't make enough to buy last minute tickets all the time, so we try to wait it out until we can't stand it anymore. When I am home and we are not together, my heart hurts. I love him more than I ever thought I could love someone, and I will give every inch of my power to keep us together until we can finally not be apart anymore. We do little things when I am home to keep our mind off of the distance, like play games online or watch movies together. We also each have a journal that we each write in when I am deployed about our thoughts, or our days or anything we would discuss on the phone. When we finally get to see each other we each swap the journals and read them to each other. It really helps, because I know that he misses me as much as I miss him when I am away. I never thought that we would ever have made it through this long. I hear so many sad stories about people giving up on their LDR. DONT! If you love them, it is worth it. My boyfriend reassures me that if we can get through this challenge, we can get through anything. LDR's have more than most relationships, communication. Most couples cry if they are away for a few days, try it for a few months or years, to us LDR'ers.. that is normal. Stay strong, don't give up! I know that it isn't going to be forever! —