In this final blog piece for #IFeelYou, we have picked three true love stories that we have gotten from our audience. All are based on their experiences of being in their current long-distance relationship.
Meeting Online
We met on an online community of shared interests, looking to make friends and new things to discover within the community. So if you would make a friend, you get to meet their friends and chat about fun things for long hours.
That’s how I met Sasha. We were both not looking to be relationships at the time, especially because of the distance. And we also did not want to be in a long-distance relationship at the time at all.
But after hours and weeks of constant talking and sharing stories, a lot of things clicked. We both had been through personal hardships and understanding each other’s experiences brought us closer together. And before I knew it, she confessed to me how she felt about me and I reciprocated those feelings back to her.
That’s when we decided to step it up and start video chatting. 6 thousand miles apart yet it only felt a screen away. We both had found mounts for our cameras that helped us video chat as we carried on with our daily lives.
Not long after, we decided to finally meet up and she came to visit. I remember it like it was yesterday. I went to pick her up from the airport, and we drove along the coast to Santa Monica Pier, it all felt too surreal.
It unexpectedly felt all-natural, like she was the girl living next door...I didn’t feel the distance. I've never felt something like this before. Flash forward a month after the initial visit, we met once again and we officially started dating.
It was not a typical start towards a relationship but it was worth it. She is an amazing girl who sparked a passion I had inside that I've long forgotten. Even with the distance, #IFeelYou.
Love Changed my Mind
When I joined the army I was a single man and I didn’t think much about the impact my job could have on my private life. I saw my colleagues in Afghanistan calling their girlfriends, wives, and kids. Carrying their pictures always with them in their pockets, telling funny stories about their family life… I always felt like this was not for me.
I didn’t until I met Amy. I met her during a night out with my friends when I was back home.
I didn’t tell her what I did for living for almost 2 weeks. I had this thought in my mind that it wouldn’t work out this way. I thought that she wouldn’t want to commit to relocating, to living on her own when I would be deployed, to the never-ending fear about my life.
So one day, I finally told her about being in the military and asked her if she still wants to date me, she said “yes” without hesitating. That’s how it all began.
Our first few months together were crazy and beautiful. I picked her up every day after work just to spend as much time together as possible. We were completely over the moon when we were together. Our sex was passionate and full of emotions. When we were falling asleep, she would always put her hand on my cheek. Feeling the warmth of her hand, made me feel safe and loved.
Unfortunately, soon I was going to be deployed. This was the first time I was going to go while we were together. When I left it definitely took a toll on her. It was a very difficult mission in Syria. Normally, you get to have access to the Internet on a daily basis but this time it was different.
The connection was very limited and our operations were highly dangerous and complicated. Falling asleep, I always tried to imagine that I could feel her hand on my cheek, which made me feel safe and at home.
After the first week, I finally got a chance to talk to her, I saw that she was on a rollercoaster of emotions. She tried to hide her feelings but I could clearly see that she hadn’t been sleeping very well.
Through all this, we’ve now been in a relationship for 3 years. During that time, many things have happened. We moved in together, we got married and now Amy is pregnant with our first baby. Of course, it’s not always easy. Our everyday life is mixed with sudden training sessions and deployments missed birthdays and anniversaries. When I’m away, I try to get in touch with her as often as I can, so she knows I’m safe.
For the Longest Time
Being in a long-distance relationship can be really difficult. For some people, it is not even an option. But there are people who believe that distance doesn’t matter, in fact, it can bring them closer together.
I had known Dima since were children. We lived in the same neighborhood and Dima often helped me with my heavy school bags when I would come and go from school.
We were young and inexperienced students who didn’t even think about relationships at all. Time passed, and Dima confessed to me about his feelings, which turned out to be mutual. We were in love, happy, and didn't even think about splitting up until I had to move to study in Moscow.
After I moved, my life changed. The rhythm of the big city took away my thoughts about Dima. I made new friends and met a new guy. We were together for a long time, got married and I thought “This is real love”.
But deep inside, I often compared this man, my husband, to Dima. I never forgot about him. Soon, our marriage didn’t last too long.
I heard that Dima graduated from university, became a successful lawyer and moved to New York. As time passed, we both lived our own separate lives. We would get into relationships with new people, split up, and again find new love.
It was December, and we met by accident. He was in Moscow on business and I was with some friends in a cafe. We talked all evening like we did in the old days.
It felt like everything was just beginning for the first time when we were just friends. The next morning he left. We continued to stay in touch. We often spent time video chatting on Skype. We would talk about everything. We shared our thoughts, talked about our relationships and complaining about our partners.
After 6 months I would meet him again. And this time we immediately realized that our fate was to be together. The problem was the distance, but we tried anyway and we embarked on a long and difficult long-distance relationship.
The time difference was eight hours: when he went to sleep, I was already waking up.
We would meet once a month and appreciate every minute and second, we had with each other. We would forget about sleep and our normal course of the day because our time together was limited.
For four years we lived far from each other, but at a distance, and our feelings for each other got only stronger and stronger. Every time we had time off we would use it as an opportunity to meet each other. And then two years later we got married.
Dima and I have been together for ten years. And perhaps no one believes in it these days, but true love can withstand any distance, even distance over time…
About the Hedonistologist
The Hedonistologist is a project run by a French-born designer that always had a soft spot for drawing and butts. With a will to bring a new spirit and personal aesthetic into the world of erotic art. The project aims to represent a more liberated approach to natural sensuality and the topic of sexuality and wellness in human cultures through art.
About I Feel You
#IFeelYou is the celebration of the free-minded. The restless innovators that believe that there’s nothing we can’t achieve when technology is used to connect people... To empower love, and take a stand on equality, and respect.
#IFeelYou is a declaration of love through stories of real connection. It’s what uncovers the truth that distance won’t ever mean separation again.
Because no matter how far we are from each other #IFeelYou is our proclamation of free love.
#IFeelYou is a collaboration between KIIROO and the Hedonistologist, inspiring love through art and technology.
