I know that I am a young and that I have not necessarily had a lot of life experience, but I have dated around and been in a few relationships, and in all of that movie watching, holding hands, and kissing, I never felt the way that I do now. For six months, I have been in a relationship with my wonderful boyfriend, Chris. I've had feelings for him from the time I met him in eighth grade, and now we are seniors in high school, due to graduate in a little over a month.

I understand that six months cannot compare to the length of many other people's relationships, but I know that this is a good start. In my past I've been used, I've been cheated, and I've been lied to, but I can tell that he respects me and cares for me. He is very mature for his age, and between work, school, and college prep, he makes time for us.

The words I love you get tossed around so often. We made sure that we meant them before we began saying them. I was in the middle of a break up and he had just had his heart trampled when we started flirting with each other. We began dating shortly after my break up, but we both knew that it wasn't a rebound relationship. He found out from a friend that I had liked him for quite a while, and he told me that he had been interested in me for some time as well. About a month ago, however, I found out that he will be renting an appartment about an hour away while he is in college. I am stuck attending a community college about ten minutes from home, so I will only see him on the weekends or days that he does not have class or work. He is taking on a double major in computer science and computer engineering, and he will be transfering from his job in Troy to the same restraunt near his appartment. His job has already taken over most of his life right now, and I know that his double major isn't going to be a simple responsibility. So when you think you have found love, how do you keep it strong when you have so many responsibilities and you are dating at a distance?

I figured, since he is a computer person and in love with his online games, that I would start playing World of Warcraft as a way of spending time with him. He thought this was a great idea, until he realized that my computer does not have a great graphics card and that I will not have the money to play World of Warcraft due to college expenses. We love taking walks together, but he will be living near the college and I will be stuck back in our hometown. We just need something to do together at a distance. Online games inspire teamwork, so I figure any game would be good for the relationship. It's a way of being together when you can't be together. Other than that, I have no idea what we could do. So, as I asked before, when you think you have found love, how do you keep it strong when you have so many responsibilities and you are dating at a distance? Any ideas would be helpful.