[Kat in NJ]

How do you make long distance relationships work? Both my partner and I agreed to a long distance relationship and we both want to make it work, but for the next year at least, we'll mostly be separated, because he is in college, and I am an senior in high school. We'll be 700 miles away from each other, and will only see each other around Christmas-time once or twice. He doesn't plan to come back for summers. He's in Ohio, and I'm in New Jersey.

Depending on the circumstances, we might be separated for another 4 years, as I might not go to the same university as him. We will both be incredibly busy with schoolwork, but I have problems dealing with my loneliness, and he asks that I understand that at times, we may go 2-3 weeks without any contact at all.

I am a very physical person, and I am afraid that such a relationship will die off. I don't want to give him an ultimatum - give me your time or let me go, because I understand that with the future job that he wants, he will have to invest most of his waking hours to succeed. However, because I get lonely so much, I tend to become crabby and irritable, and so the time that i do have with him (phone time) sometimes doesn't go well. I love him very much and I really want to make it work. How do I deal with my loneliness?