fact of life

long-distance relationships suck. and require a lot more negotiation than other relationships generally. you have to commit to those phone/skype/viber/whatever calls like you would to an actual physical date, because as far as you're concerned, those are your actual dates. there's a lot more to be said on the subject, but it's probably best to not go into it (re: dwell, stew, fester). so i'll leave it at this: it sucks, and is hard on all ends, and requires everyone putting in relatively equal effort (with exceptions, obviously, but those exceptions should not become the norm). otherwise, you may as well just cut it short and start the healing process earlier.