I live in a fairly small town in AK.......but his latest duty assignment is in Virgina. So all of our communications are via text messaging, or phone conversations.
Maintaining a relationship long-distance is hard enough: *repairing* one long-distance is pretty much impossible. I was in the Navy myself during my early marriage, and believe that the best thing that you can do is to be as upbeat, positive, affectionate, and encouraging as possible in EVERY single long-distance communication with him. Make him walk away from every text message, email, phone call, or letter with a smile on his face, thinking of you fondly. Be the girl he wants to come home to.
Do NOT burden him with serious R talks or bring up old hurts and resentments -- that will send him scurrying, or perhaps worse (into the arms of someone else).
In the meantime GAL and do some reading / research in the areas of men, women, relationships, and sexuality. The more you understand *yourself* and him (as a man), and how that combination works both between the sheets and out, the better off you are. Here is a list of books that you can start with. Since I posted that list, I have completed Schnarch's Passionate Marriage and do highly recommend it -- it's sort of like the Bible for this forum (in addition to SSM and SSW).
Keep talking to us too -- traffic is light right now as folks ar off doing summer stuff, but they'll check in and comment when they can.
-- B.
Me 50, W 45, M for 26 yrs S25, D23, S13, S10 20+ year SSM; recovery began Oct 2007
