LDR has made people finally take our teenage relationship seriously!

[laura95]

It's been nearly 7 months now since my boyfriend moved 100 miles away, & everything's going absolutely great. Obviously it was upsetting & hard to adjust at first, but there's been no issues at all. Nothing's changed between us, except the fact that it's made our love even stronger.

The thing is, we're only 16. Our 3 year anniversary was this month, the 14th. Despite our age, we are genuinely in love - real love, & I cannot stress that enough. It's not puppy love or anything like that. We're like best friends, & I can honestly see us being together for the rest of our lives. Maybe you don't believe me, but you have to take my word for it. When you're in love, you know. We sit & talk about our future. Living together, getting married, having children, growing old together. We can't wait for it, but that's the worst part of falling in love so young, we're still children & don't have the freedom yet that adults do! But then again, why the rush. It just gives us so much more to look forward to in life.

The problem is, it's so hard for other people to understand just how in love we really are, because of our age. And I can understand why, it's just not the norm. But thankfully I do have an understanding in my parents, who have been together since the age of 15, married at ages 21/22 & 22 years later have 4 children & are going strong. They see what we have, & have helped me enormously in coping with my boyfriend moving away, because they understand just how much we love each other & so how hard it must be to be apart.

Since my boyfriend moved away, it's helped people to see just how far we're willing to go for each other. It's shown people how, at such a young age, we're coping with something that few 16 year olds can manage, & how mature we are with the whole situation. And for that I am INCREDIBLY thankful. It feels so good to finally know that we're being treated seriously, and people can really understand how we feel about each other. What we have between us at such a young age really isn't common, so it's such a relief to feel like we're not being thought as just your average teenage couple. It's taken so much effort physically & emotionally to cope with the distance & also try to carry on a normal life, as well as getting the most out of our a-levels which we're currently studying for.

So, for that I am SO thankful of our LDR. Not only has it brought us closer together, we also have so much more understanding from everyone around us for our love for each other. There really is a light at the end of the tunnel, it was all worth it :-D

[Deleted]

Wow...three years together for someone who's 16 is really good, specially these days where people do not tend to last long in their relationships (specially teens). I'm not far from your age so I understand you pretty well.

Unfortunately people tend to believe that relationships among young people are not serious or they are always puppy love. I know many cases of couples getting married to their first boyfriend/girlfriend... casually, my SO's parents. They also began their relationship in their early teens.

I also understand what you mean with people getting to see it is serious when you do not let it break due to the distance. I haven't been as long with my SO as you but distance made people see that we were being serious about what we feel. That's one advantage of LDR's, besides it does make you become emotionally closer to your special someone. I've seen that I've gotten to know better my SO than my friends who have close distance relationships even, because since we cannot really date every friday, or kiss and embrace, we are all about talking and communicating and we fall more and more in love only thanks to each other's personality and way of being.

Long distance relationships are a real proof of love and loyalty. It makes you get to know if you are really in love and if you are willing to make a big effort to keep the relationship. Congrats on your third anniversary wish you the best

[jenniferjade]

That's so great for you guys! I have no doubt that the two of you can do this; it seems you already are! I've been with my SO for almost two years, and I know how extremely hard it can be, and how often we want to give up. And we're both 23! So, in order to keep that going when the two of you are only 16 is amazing. Good luck and I hope it works out for you!

[Tooki]

I do agree with the scepticism because you two are 16.

BUT the fact you have been together for 3 years tells you something positive. Good luck to you two

[Killtrend]

It started in person, so that should give you a bond a lot of LDRs don't get. Yes, you're young and I would usually go on saying how you haven't had a chance to be heartbroken yet so you can't possibly know what the good stuff feels like BUT... I feel differently here. Sometimes, people get lucky and meet their match without having to sift through the trash. If I had manned up and dated the first girl I fell in love with, who knows where I'd be now. But I was young, she was young. We didn't know how good or how bad it could be. And we were both really bad at doing something as basic as just thinking about the other person first.

I wish you luck. The years will only make it easier. Keep in contact, but don't lose focus of your own life. Get your schooling. Save your money. When the time is right, put 100% into whatever decision you make with all the backing that years of grinding out a job and school will give you.

-Ed

[dukes2011]

Keep in contact, but don't lose focus of your own life. Get your schooling. Save your money. When the time is right, put 100% into whatever decision you make with all the backing that years of grinding out a job and school will give you.

This! Couldn't have put it better myself. Many people get married young and spend time wishing they had done something for themselves beforehand. A lot of my friends got married as soon as they graduated and aren't pursuing grad school even though they can't get a job in their field with a bachelor's. I need a master's for entry into my field, so my boyfriend and I opting to establish ourselves individually first and get married a few years from now. It's tough but I'm so glad I'm putting my education first. He's working as a teacher and saving up money right now. We're at a different point in our lives, but a relationship can still work even if you're on different paths. Young marriages can work, but I think it's harder to make them work if someone gives up their education or puts it on hold for marriage.

On a lighter note, I think it's great you and boyfriend are mature enough to handle the distance! It definitely makes you stronger and it's a testament to the strength of the relationship too. My mom thought my boyfriend and I were in "puppy love" too since we were each others first serious relationship and the distance has made her see us in a different light. Keep your positive attitude and good luck to the both of you! Can't wait to see you around the forums!!

[Bethypoo]

I do agree with the scepticism because you two are 16.

BUT the fact you have been together for 3 years tells you something positive. Good luck to you two

Exactly how I feel! But yay for you two. You are right. The reason people don't believe in relationships when people are your age is because they are selfish and immature. But you two seem to be fighting that prejudice! good job.

[Killtrend]

Exactly how I feel! But yay for you two. You are right. The reason people don't believe in relationships when people are your age is because they are selfish and immature. But you two seem to be fighting that prejudice! good job.

The reason they don't believe in relationships at that age are the averages.

Not to mention no financial foundation. No school. No real relationship experience. Etc.

[floridaellen]

I admire you! My SO and I are a little older, 18 and 19, but still experience the skepticism. Although now they aren't so skeptical since my friend who's younger than me just got married :P

Young relationships can work. My parents got together at 14 and have been happily married, arguably happier than any of my other friends' parents, for 30 years. However, my SO's parents got married young and ended up divorcing. It's more about the individual relationship, not the age. People focus too much on the age rather than the maturity of the couple and the relationship.

[efish1042]

I admire you for this accomplishment at such a young age. My SO and I started when I was 15 and we are still going strong 3 years later, also. So I understand what you mean with the skepticism. I won't lie, tho. If you had come here when you were 13/14 and I was still 18, I would've been pretty skeptical, too. A serious relationship at 13/14 is really rare as it is rare to find that kind of maturity at that age, and I applaud you!

It's more about the individual relationship, not the age. People focus too much on the age rather than the maturity of the couple and the relationship.

I agree with floridaellen. I'm really happy this has helped you guys. It's something that is really difficult, but it is a good way to prove to others that you are serious about each other and get them to take you more seriously as well.
I'm sad to say that that was not so much the case for me. My SO and I went LD 2 1/2 years ago and most people are just now starting to take us seriously in the past year or so.
I'm happy for you two. Keep the faith strong and keep searching for the light at the end of your LDR tunnel! It gets easier!

[enemey96]

Hi, I'm in the same situation as you with everyone being septic. I don't see why people can't understand that we are actually in love, not puppy love, just because I'm 15 and my SO is 16, doesn't mean that we can't be in real love!

[Killtrend]

Hi, I'm in the same situation as you with everyone being septic. I don't see why people can't understand that we are actually in love, not puppy love, just because I'm 15 and my SO is 16, doesn't mean that we can't be in real love!

When your 15 or 16, you can't expect anyone to believe anything you say. All I can say to you is that I wish you luck, because I remember when I was 16 and I *knew* it was true love too.

If it ever turns out that you break up, just remember it doesn't make the feelings fake. It just happens sometimes. My grandparents didn't find each other till 30. They were married 50 years when my grandfather passed at 91. Most people in a relationship right now have loved before, and will love again. Most people in a relationship right now not only won't marry the person they are with, but the next person they love they won't marry either. When you get older (sounds cliche) you'll be doing the same thing you hate other people for doing: trying to give you a dose of reality.

Sometimes I think I'm the only realist on this board... Lol.

[floridaellen]

Sometimes I think I'm the only realist on this board... Lol.

There is no harm in being optimistic and working towards a goal.

[Killtrend]

There is no harm in being optimistic and working towards a goal.

Optimism gets main trouble. Realism keeps me pleasantly surprised when im wrong.

Under-promise, over deliver.

[CynicalQuixotic]

Optimism gets main trouble. Realism keeps me pleasantly surprised when im wrong.

Under-promise, over deliver.

Okay, I'm saying this as the resident person on this board who is too blunt and sometimes mean, and someone who admittedly thinks 99% of relationships that start in the teenage years will not last: dude, you're being really condescending. Yes, OP strays into melodramatics, but she's 16 and in the throes of her first love. It's a heady time. She's not going to listen to anything you say, and neither will any of the younger people here. Whether or not it's "real" love is irrelevant, and pointing it out like this only makes you look immature yourself.