Loving someone is tough. Loving someone from hundreds and hundreds of miles away is even tougher. There is a lot taken out of a relationship when you put space in between it, so therefore, there is a lot that must go into this kind of a relationship in order for it to work. Nobody who goes into a long-distance relationship is oblivious to this fact. We are all aware of the potential outcome. We just choose to believe that we are strong enough to give the relationship a chance and see what will come of it. There isn’t a lot that anyone else can really do to ease this process, but there are definitely some things that can be said which make it pretty unbearable.

1. "Don’t you feel like you’re missing out?"

Uh, no. I have a wonderful person who cares about me. So what if he/she is 500 miles south? I do not feel as though I am missing out on the college "dating" scene. My friends come to me with stories and let me tell you, I would much rather be with someone who I know cares about me, and deal with the distance, rather than having to deal with a jerk who lives close by.

2. "You guys are still together?"

Yes, it's funny, despite not seeing each other every second of every day, two people can still have a functioning relationship. Kind of amazing.

3. "Well it’s not like he/she would know…"

First of all, yes they would because I would tell them. Second of all, that is so not the point. That kind of thing would eat away at me constantly. You don’t do that to someone you love, no matter where they are geographically.

4. "I feel so sorry for you."

Oh, well thank you. I’m so glad you feel sorry for me, it’s very encouraging to hear that you have no faith in a relationship that you also know nothing about.

5. "How do you know you can trust him/her?"

You just do. I know this person; I mean I really, really, know them. You either do, or you don’t get into something like this. The only way this works is with trust and you just have to know or don’t even try.

6. "That’s probably not going to work out."

Well gee, thank you for your insight. Did you use your crystal ball to look into the future for me? If I could do that don’t you think I would? The reason we are even trying something like this is because we do think it’s going to work out. But if you really don’t think so I’ll just call it quits, thanks for looking out.

7. "How can you stand going that long without sex?"

Haha, I don’t know? Maybe because there is so much more to a relationship than just sex. Maybe because in doing this whole long-distance thing, you come to understand that sex is really the least important part of a relationship, and the sound of their voice turns into the thing you crave most out of your day.

8. "Oh, I did that once, it was awful."

So you know my struggle and yet all you have for me is "awful?" No tips, or tricks, or anything? Just awful?

9. "Does it even count as a relationship if you guys never see each other?"

Yes. Just Yes.

10. "Why didn’t you just go to school in the same state?"

We are a couple. We are not one person. We have different goals and paths of life, and we are not dependent on each other every minute of every day. I do not base my decisions on who I am dating, so I went to school where I wanted to go and that’s that.

11. "Wow, I bet you wish he/she lived here."

No, I actually prefer being hundreds of miles away disconnected from their day to day life, and who they interact with, and only being able to talk or see each other when it's convenient, not just whenever we want. Of course I do, I also wish that you could understand how good the test of distance can be on two people's relationship.

12. "So, you guys must be pretty serious then?"

I mean, I guess. You have to be pretty serious with someone to be surrounded by hundreds of other people every day and also have free will but then choose to be with one person who you never ever see. People don’t tend to do that if they’re just "casual."

13. "Are you getting married?"

Moving on.

14. "How do you do it?"

There might be a manual out there for long distance relationships; if I find it, I’ll let you know!

15. "What if you break up? Then you really missed out."

Everybody has relationships that don't end up working out for one reason or another. What you get out of them is far more valuable than anything you could have gotten without them at that point in your life. If this doesn't work out I don't regret a thing. We could have stopped it whenever we wanted to, but we didn't want to. Every relationship you ever have shapes you and leads you to something new.

16. "You’re too young for that kind of commitment."

This is my favorite one. I am too young to commit to another person, but it's time for me to commit to a major and a career path for the rest of my life, right now. I am too young to commit to another person, but it's time for me to commit to dying for my country. I am too young to commit to another person, but it's time for me to commit to a candidate who will run the country I live in for the next four to eight years. You are never too young to commit to something you truly believe in.

If you aren't doing it, you probably don't understand what it's really like. I appreciate that sometimes these comments are made in an attempt to understand, however, it just isn't possible. The best thing you can say to someone who is in a long distance relationship is "I'm really happy for you." You're happy that they're happy no matter what that happiness entails. They don't need you to tell them how hard it is, they know that I promise you. Their long-distance relationship has turned into "normal," so just talk about it as a normal relationship. And to those currently holding on to someone from afar, I really am happy for you.