Love across the miles

Couples make long-distance relationships work with help of social media

Canadian author Margaret Atwood once said, “I exist in two places, here and where you are.”

Many people in long-distance relationships will relate to the awarding winning author’s simple but powerful words.

Sophia Solomon was born and raised in India and moved to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2012.

Eighteen years old at the time, it’s where she met her fiancé, Glen Paul.

After living in Dubai for two years, Solomon moved to Newfoundland in 2014 to attend Memorial University. St. John’s has become her home.

“It has allowed me to grow, find myself, my passion for helping people, especially newcomers, and shaped me into the person I am today,” she says.

Solomon graduated from Memorial in 2018 and now works as a community settlement/integration counsellor with the Association for New Canadians.

“I’m very happy in my position here,” she said during a phone interview on her lunch break.

Now that she’s certain Newfoundland is where she intends on settling long-term, Solomon will soon welcome her fiancé to St. John’s.

Paul was also born in India but has lived in Dubai since age three.

Once a small fishing village, Dubai is now touted as one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world and is home to nearly 200 nationalities.

Solomon said Dubai is a stunning place to live with skyscrapers, beaches and exquisite food. However, she says, her fiancé wants the oppositive of that right now and is looking to be surrounded by water, nature and mountains.

“So, I told him, ‘Newfoundland is the perfect place for you,’” she said.

Solomon said her fiancé’s move to Newfoundland in the near future will be his first time in Canada and will give him an opportunity to experience the life and freedom she has enjoyed over the past seven years, she said.

“I also want to show him the places that played an important part in my life, like Memorial University, Signal Hill, the many trails and some amazing people who’ve become my family here,” Solomon said.

HARD TO BE APART

While she and Paul have found a way to make their long-distance relationship work, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. It was on and off for a while, Solomon said, with both deciding to focus on their studies rather than their relationship.

“The distance, and with me coming to Canada, we tried to make it work a couple of times, and finally last year, the pandemic put things in perspective for us. I became a permanent resident last year … and that’s when we got engaged,” she said.

Solomon said a longdistance relationship is challenging but both she and her fiancé have found ways to stay in touch, often through social media.

“We tell each other about our days, what we’ve done or we will watch a TV show or movie … there is an eighthour time difference but he’s such a gem. He stays up every night to talk to me when I’m done work.”

Solomon is adamant that if both people want the relationship to work, they will find a way to do just that.

Communicating your feelings and being honest with each other is really important, she said.

DISTANCE DURING PREGNANCY

Charley Burke lives in Mount Stewart, PEI. Her fiancé, Jamie Culleton, was living in O’leary, PEI whey they met almost three years ago.

“We went back and forth for about two months, then we moved in together and we commuted over an hour, in opposite directions, to work. Then, after we lived together for two months, Jamie went to BC to work for eight months.”

Other than two weeks home during that time, Culleton was working in BC for the entire eight months.

The fact that Burke was about six weeks pregnant when he left PEI for work in BC made their long-distance relationship that much harder, she said.

“He was already booked to go to BC when we found out we were pregnant … he came home seven days before our daughter was born (on March 25, 2020).”

Social media connections were also key for Burke and Culleton, who kept in touch as much as possible during his time in BC.

Culleton has two children from a previous relationship, and Burke and Culleton also have a newborn, born on March 30, 2021. They live with her parents currently but plan to build their own home when the economy improves.

“We’re doing great now,” Burke said.

NEW POSSIBILITIES

Leanne Cochrane of Saint John, N.B. is quick to note that the man she met online in September 2020 and plans to see again is a friend rather than a boyfriend. He lives in PEI, she said.

“We chatted and had lots of phone calls. I went (to PEI) in November to meet him. We had a whirlwind of a date. I came home on Saturday, and on Sunday, I work up to the news that the (Atlantic) bubble had closed.”

The news meant their plans to spend Christmas together were dashed, she said.

“But he’s planning on coming here to see me in a couple of weeks,” Cochrane said during a phone interview on July 13.

Cochrane is a widow. The gent is newly divorced. They are taking their time to get to know each other, she said.

If their relationship — which she reiterates is a great friendship — goes further, she has no problem relocating to be with him.

“I can go anywhere in the world and if this is the person I’m meant to be with, I can absolutely move to PEI,” she said.