9. Long Distance Ain't Easy

          In my previous post, I mentioned one of my best friends Janine who I met at EFY four years ago. She lived in North Carolina, I lived in New Jersey, and we only got to see each other for one week every summer, yet we still managed to maintain a long distance relationship throughout the years. Our success story should be used to advertise EFY.

Summer 2010:
          It was my first year at EFY, and my parents literally had to drag me to the car and buckle me in for the six hour drive to Buena Vista, Virginia. I had no idea what to expect, and I didn't know anyone else who was going, so naturally, I wanted to throw myself out of the moving car. When I got there, I met my roommate who was an interesting individual and my company, which had ZERO cute boys. This is going to be the best week ever...I sarcastically thought to myself. We went around the room and introduced ourselves. This tiny blonde introduced herself as Janine, except the J sounds like a Y, so it's pronounced Yanine. Janine was originally from South Africa, but moved to America with her family when she was three. It was the second day when we sat next to each other for the morning devotional, and we just clicked. Throughout the week, we were inseparable. We came to the conclusion that we were sisters separated at birth. Saying goodbye was not easy, but we kept in touch until our second summer at EFY.

Summer 2011:
          I was way excited for EFY this time around, because I FINALLY got to reunite with my long distance best friend and have the opportunity to be her roommate! The minute she walked into the dorm, we embraced for a solid five minutes and picked up right where we left off. The week flew by, and we were saying goodbye again until next summer.

Summer 2012:
          Instead of going to EFY, Janine came up to New Jersey to stay with me. We picked her up at the Baltimore airport and made the most of our time together. We went to the D.C. temple, Six Flags, New York City, Philadelphia, and Ocean City all within a week. We were so exhausted, but we couldn't waste one second on sleep! We stayed up talking and jammed out during long car rides instead of napping. I was an emotional disaster dropping her off at the airport, and cried the whole way home. ONE MORE YEAR till we could be together again, but phone dates would suffice until then.

Summer 2013:
          By this time, I already graduated high school, and Janine only had one more year left. Our last year at EFY totally tanked, but we were together at the exact place where our friendship started. We were roommates again, and we spent late nights talking about our future together like lovestruck teenagers in a serious relationship. I was heading off to BYU, and that's where Janine wanted to go as well. We talked about rooming together in college and being able to spend longer than a week together! The thought alone made me so happy and excited for that day to come! When we said goodbye at the end of the week, we knew this was the last time we'd have to say goodbye for a WHOLE year. The next time we saw each other, it would be for good. I no longer had to survive off of three hour phone calls each week, because I'd get to see her everyday.