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Long Distance Valentine's

Valentine’s Day in a long-distance relationship is a lesson in patience, love, and the art of keeping your phone within arm’s reach at all times. While other couples are out for candlelit dinners, I’m here refreshing my messages like a stock trader watching the market. Because when your person is working two shifts in a whole different time zone, romance is measured in text bubbles.

With our busy schedules, our conversations are a mix of my rambling audio messages and his short but solid texts, proof that love doesn’t need paragraphs, it just needs presence. He’ll be half-asleep between shifts, sending me a simple "Nakumiss" or "How are you gal" just to remind me he’s still there. And I? I overcompensate with a ten-minute voice note about how my day was mildly chaotic, how I saw a dead dog, or how I’ve decided we will go camping when we finally live in the same city.  

Meanwhile, Nairobi is out here doing the most, couples holding hands, overpriced flowers, and heart-shaped everything. And me? I’m in a situationship with my phone, waiting for the next text to land. But the truth is, love in the long-distance lane isn’t about the grand gestures. It’s about the consistency. It’s knowing that, no matter how hectic his schedule is, he’ll still find a second to text. It’s in the quiet reassurance that time zones and distance are temporary, but this whatever we are building is not.  

So tonight, while the world is wrapped in Valentine’s clichés, I’ll be here, sending one last voice note before bed. Because even if he’s too exhausted to reply right away, I know when he wakes up, he’ll read it. And somewhere, five hours ahead, he’ll smile because I sent a good morning text when he's already in the afternoon.

Happy Valentine’s Day, kipenzi. Even across time zones, I love you.

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