I have often heard of people who have been involved in "long-distance relationships" and wondered how it was possible for them to be thousands of miles away from each other - and "make it work." I would hear stories of friends involved in such a relationship, and ask myself questions like, "Is it possible for a love to be so strong that the miles between them would not matter?" "Can two people actually love each other enough to ignore the advances of others for a love so far away?" and "Could two people who want nothing more than to be in each other's arms remain together when they are so far apart?"

I know the answer now - and it is a resounding, "yes."

Now that Mary and I are finally together, I can tell you that I have never felt closer to a woman - despite the fact that she lives 1,168 miles away from me. I can now understand how couples can withstand any distance - because our love for each other is that strong. In the last two months, we have seen each other only twice. Although the time we spent together was magic - eventually, we had to say goodbye and go back home - which for each of us was on separate sides of the East Coast. But despite that, we e-mail each other every day, talk on the phone every night - and think of each other all the time.

I remember when we first discussed dating "across the miles." At first, I did not think it was possible due to my original feelings on "long-distance relationships." And I still think that it might not have worked for me - if it was anyone else. But I have never met or been with a woman like Mary. After all that each of us have been through, we are not about to begin any kind of relationship - near or far - that contains drama, negativity - or self-created problems. We love and trust each other enough to know that if we wanted to be alone - or be with someone else - we would certainly not string each other along - especially considering the distance between us.

Take this past Friday night for instance. She told me that she was going bar hopping with her female friends - and I told her to have a good time without feeling a fraction of concern. I told her that I was meeting my friend Lisa and a bunch of her friends and heading to the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy, and then to a few bars in the City - and she told me to have a blast without hearing a hint of fear in her voice. I know couples that live together that do not have that level of love and trust for each other - but we do and we live eight States apart.

This "long, long distance love affair" will not last very long, however. That is because Mary has decided to move to New York, something she has always wanted to do - but now wants to do more than ever. I plan to go down to Florida next month to see her and meet her friends before she heads to her new home here in New York City. But until we see each other again, we will continue to love each other as if we already did live together - whether the distance between us was 1,168 miles - or one million miles.