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"Have you ever been in a long-distance relationship? They require lots of patience, respect and work. Yesterday, we received an email from a sweet reader who is new to the whole LDR game and needs a few pointers. Here&amp;amp;#8217;s our girl&amp;amp;#8217;s dilemma: Right now, I&amp;amp;#8217;m in a situation I have never been in before: I started dating a guy 6 months ago&amp;amp;#133;and he&amp;amp;#8217;s a soldier. Being a military girlfriend is not an easy thing, especially when your loved one is away for bootcamp or overseas for a mission. My boyfriend left town three weeks ago for Alberta, where he&amp;#x27;ll help train soldiers who are going to Afghanistan and he&amp;amp;#8217;ll only be back at the end of October. What the hell am I supposed to do while he&amp;amp;#8217;s gone?! I miss him so much and I don&amp;amp;#8217;t know what to do with myself. Has anyone ever been in that kind of situation? How does one cope with not being with the man you love for a long time? And here&amp;amp;#8217;s what I think: Thank you for emailing, dear. And a huge thanks to your boyfriend for his service; I&amp;amp;#8217;m endlessly grateful for our brave servicemen and women. Now on to this dilemma of yours. Long-distance relationships take a lot of work. And patience. And respect. If you&amp;amp;#8217;re positive this relationship is worth the effort (and it sounds like you are) I have a few ideas that might make the distance a wee bit easier to work with. Send care packages. Each week, or even every other week, set aside some time to put together thoughtful &amp;amp;#8220;thinking of you&amp;amp;#8221; packages for your man. You could include the current copy of his favorite magazine, tasty snacks, bottles of his preferred toiletries and of course hand-written letters. Putting together his goodies will help you feel closer to him and he&amp;amp;#8217;ll be thrilled that he can expect a sweet something from you on a regular basis. A few caveats: check with him first to see if there are any materials he can&amp;amp;#8217;t receive. Also, be mindful of items that can melt during shipping. A few chocolate bars might seem like a great idea. Until they make a melty mess. Exchange pictures. I&amp;amp;#8217;ll leave it up to you if you&amp;amp;#8217;d like to include some x-rated ones. But do send fun pictures of yourself and ask that he do the same. The pictures don&amp;amp;#8217;t have to be elaborate; silly, everyday photos work just fine. If he&amp;amp;#8217;s able to take pictures, ask him to send a few that show what he&amp;amp;#8217;s up to, either on duty or when he&amp;amp;#8217;s on leave. When you actually see what the other&amp;amp;#8217;s everyday life looks like, you&amp;amp;#8217;ll feel more connected. If he&amp;amp;#8217;s able to email you on a regular basis, perhaps you two could promise to email at least one picture a day. And remember, the pictures can be super simple; they could even be of things you spot around town that you think might make him smile. Get in touch with technology. If he&amp;amp;#8217;s able to Skype, IM or use the phone on a regular basis, try to set up a standing date. Having live conversations with each other won&amp;amp;#8217;t make the lonely feelings disappear, but the real-time chats will help you feel closer. Plan for his return. In your letters, emails, IM-chats and phone conversations, the two of you can plan what fun things you&amp;amp;#8217;ll do once he returns. Even if his time at home is brief, you two could talk about how you&amp;amp;#8217;ll visit &amp;amp;#8220;your restaurant.&amp;amp;#8221; Or, if there&amp;amp;#8217;s a big concert or sporting event taking place when he&amp;amp;#8217;s back in town, you could make fun plans to enjoy it together. As for what to do with yourself while he&amp;amp;#8217;s gone, do things that make you happy. Spend time with your family and friends. Focus on work or school. Find hobbies that make you smile. Volunteer with organizations like the VA hospital; you&amp;amp;#8217;ll be making a huge difference and I&amp;amp;#8217;m positive you&amp;amp;#8217;ll meet new friends who know exactly what you&amp;amp;#8217;re going through. Do you gals have any advice for our reader? I know there are quite a few military wives and girlfriends out there, I&amp;amp;#8217;m sure our reader would love to hear what you all have to say. Have you ever been in a long-distance relationship? What things worked? What didn&amp;amp;#8217;t? For more on long-distance relationships&amp;amp;#133; * John&amp;amp;#8217;s top 5 tips for LDRs. * Have a virtual sleepover. * How to make a relationship work when you&amp;amp;#8217;re in different cities. More Ways to Get Glamour Visit Shopglamour.com for cute stuff starting at just $10! Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes! Follow us on Twitter Add us to your iGoogle homepage Photo: Maria Teijeiro/Photodisc. Image used for illustrative purposes only."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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