Ian and I met my junior year of college. He was one of my roommates friends from high school and would occasionally come over to our house for parties or to hang out with her. We were friendly but I was busy and off doing other things so I never really took the time to get to know him. A few months later, Ian got a job offer in Chicago and moved.

We didn’t talk for a long time, but toward the end of my junior year we started chatting on Facebook. We started to really get to know each other (as best as you can online!) and when Ian came to visit Ann Arbor at the end of July, he invited me to hang out with him and his friends. I was pretty nervous and ended up bringing along a friend for support, but I didn’t need to, hanging out in person felt just right.

Even though we had a great time, the reality was that Ian lived in Chicago, and on Sunday he left Ann Arbor. We continued to talk, much more frequently after spending time together in person, but we really didn’t know if our “relationship” was going anywhere. A month or so later, right before my senior year began, Ian invited me to come to Chicago to spend a weekend with him. I figured I had nothing to lose. I hadn’t taken a vacation in forever and if things went badly, I could either drive back to Michigan or spend time with some of my other friends in Chicago. So I went and the rest is history. We had the best time exploring Chicago together and that weekend will forever be one of my favorite memories.

We dated long distance for about 8 months. Travelling back and forth (it’s about 4 hours) every other week. I really think this is key in making a long distance relationship work, we made sure to see each other at least twice a month. The travelling was grueling and it was hard to be apart but we knew it was worth it.

When I got accepted into a Public Health program in Chicago and moved the long-distance all became worth it. It was so nice to be able to see each other more than twice a month! We lived apart for my first year in Chicago but decided to move in together last May and got a cat, Sonic, in June.

Ian is one of those people who I am so grateful to have in my life. He also makes for a pretty great roommate if I do say so myself :P. Cheers!