Frank and I met in May 2005 through a friend I met in college in Maine who was from Massachusetts. Frank and I started communicating with each other on a daily basis and instantly clicked as friends. Both he and our friend would come to visit me up in Maine every so often when they had the chance. Frank and I had become best friends.

In January 2006, Frank revealed his feelings to me. This came as quite a shock since I had no idea that he had grown to love me more than a friend. Frank was never flirty with me and never let on that he had feelings for me. He was always such a gentleman. Almost immediately, I turned Frank down because I didn't want to ruin the most amazing friendship I had ever had with "feelings."

It wasn't long... about 3 months later I had started to think, "What would I ever do without him? How would our friendship change if he got a girlfriend?" I didn't want it to change and I realized that I was being selfish, and that my feelings for him were more than those a friend would have for someone, it was more. I realized I never wanted to be without him.

Excitedly, I wrote a long email to Frank detailing my feelings. I wanted to get everything down that I wanted to say. Part of me was scared he would no longer be interested. I knew he was devastated after what happened in January, and I wasn't sure he would feel the same anymore.

On April 23, 2006, Frank wrote to me, "I say I love you, but now what?" The distance seemed like such a huge obstacle and neither of us had figured out how it could work.

This was the start of a whole new stage of our already strong relationship.

For both of us this was our first love relationship. We had been with no one else before. And we were doing this long distance. We knew it was crazy... and we weren't alone. A lot of people doubted our relationship would last simply because it was our first, and they believed it even more since we were states apart.

Every time Frank had to leave from my home, or I would have to leave him, I could not stop the waterworks. I would board Greyhound buses with tears running down my face - it happened on many occasions. I always told Frank that I could not wait until the day when we would not have to do this anymore, because it was too hard to leave him and not know when I'd be able to see him again. He would always hold me until the last possible second and somehow always managed to keep a big smile on his face in an attempt to make me feel a little less sad (and perhaps to keep himself from crying as well? :P).

We struggled through the distance and had our ups and downs. We were not the picture-perfect long distance couple. It was definitely a roller-coaster ride, but at the end of the day we knew it would be worth it in the end. I started this website, Loving From A Distance, in the summer of 2008 simply because I wanted to create a list of Things Frank and I Do while long distance. Back then, I had no idea what it would become... we have met so many people from around the world who share a similar experience.

We went through tough times together. In September 2009, we thought we had closed the distance. I took a job and moved to Massachusetts to be with Frank. Just 6 days later my mom ended up in the critcal care unit after a severe asthma attack with complications that caused her to stop breathing. Two days later, I lost her on Sept 15, 2009. The loss of my mother meant I'd have to go back home to be with my family, not just to grieve but to be of financial support.

Frank and I decided we would settle in Maine. He applied to many jobs, and he finally was able to get a job related to his field in the summer of 2011. After over 5 years of being long distance, we happily closed the distance on July 21, 2011.