When I was 13 years old I had a 16 year old boyfriend. It was a very instable relationship and we had quarrelled a lot. One day I haven't seen him again. And then we have met again via the internet. We started communicating more frequently and recalling the past years and we both noticed that we still have feelings for each other. What can I do at the age of 17 with him being far away from me not knowing if we will be able to meet?

The situation you are going through is absolutely normal and is simply called love, something that happens during the years of adolescence. You get to know somebody, you have a relationship with somebody and then one moves out of town, for a decision made by the parents, and you loose contact.

Time passes by and all of a sudden you meet this person again and you notice that, here, in the ashes of a relationship that was ended involuntarily, the fire of love is still burning.

A feeling of love, when it is profound, survives long periods of time. And this is what happened to you.

I don't doubt that what you feel for this boy is love and that he feels the same for you as he keeps contact with you over this distance. Don't get distressed about feeling love for this boy. It is normal. It is natural. And sometimes it makes us sad or melancholy.

What you should ask yourself is whether there is a real chance to be with him in order to maintain this relationship. Distance love don't prosper and can be deceptions. If you are able to see each other but it is a one time occasion and later you have to separate again, my advice for you is not to build castles in the air. Don't have illusions about it.

But if there is the chance to see each other more often because you don't live too far away from one another, there might be a future for your relationship on condition that he has the same interest in a relationship like you.

But I'd like to tell you that the friendships that are created and kept via the internet can very well prosper - with or without physical presence - and if they are well lead they are worthwhile for integrating oneself into the world community.

But if one seeks to build a relationship with somebody via the internet and one pretends to establish a link of love to this person and physical bond without it having existed beforehand, the percentage that the effort will result in a failure is a lot higher.

Your case is a little different because you have known this boy before though it doesn't exempt you from the risk of having illusions without foundation and be an object of simulation on his part. A simple game in which he made you believe.

There is a brief essay about relationships via the internet at this very website. Check it out, it may be helpful to you or friends of yours.

Asked by a girl from the USA