Been there, done that, got the t-shirt (and the rings!
) My husband and I had 2 long distance "experiences" The first he was in the south, I was in the mid-west, 2nd time we were in the same state, but 3 hours away. The others have given you some really good advice, so I won't do a whole lot more, but I will say this: set up your own unique rituals like watching the same show on TV each week so you can "visualize" each other,"goodnight only" calls (takes a lot of disipline!), etc. Basically anything hokey and cute worked for us. Boy, I tell ya, I wish we had had e-mail back in the stone ages when when were in our LDR. It would have certainly cut down on the phone calls and the snail mail when one of us answered a question and the other could not remember what they had written!
I think the most important thing is honesty. My now husband and I agreed that we would be totally honest with each other at all times and tell each other EVERYTHING. If a girl at his job flirted with him he told me. If I went to lunch with a male co-worker, I told him. Fortunatley we were secure enough in the relationship that these little things did not bother us. In addition, we shared the "little" things that happened to us that day or week. Because we could not talk everyday we got in the habit of keeping notes each day so we could share things with each other that we would normally forget.
[This message has been edited by Eclipse (edited April 29, 2001).]