It was the perfect high school romance. Katie and Chris both grew up in Huntington, NY, but never met until their senior year in sixth period study hall. She loved his “built body” and “perfect smile.” He loved how she always made him laugh.
Their first date was a bit more romantic than the typical rental movie in the dark that Katie had experienced with other high school love interests. Chris found out from friends that Katie had a taste for sushi, and took her to her favorite restaurant.
They officially became a couple that night.
“What made our relationship so special was that we felt completely comfortable around each other,” Katie said, “He was my first real relationship and I knew he would always be there for me.”
Sunbeams filtered through Katie’s sheer curtains when she awoke on her birthday late in August. With a yawn, she slowly opened her eyes and found a bouquet of lilies, which just happen to be her favorite flower, on her dresser. College was dismally approaching for the couple, but this day she knew they would forget about all of that. After a light breakfast at an airy diner, Chris brought Katie to their favorite beach spot and gave her a promise ring.
They vowed to stay together forever.
It took two and a half months of college for them to break up.
Katie Larkin is currently a freshman at Marist College, and when it comes to long distance relationships, her story is a typical one. So typical, in fact, that this coming Thanksgiving break has been nicknamed the “Turkey Drop,” due to high school sweethearts breaking up after their first reunion.
Katie’s reunion came a few weeks early, but it held the telltale signs of a break up.
“Things were just awkward,” she said, “We ended up fighting the whole time he was visiting me.” She added that the tension was caused by not talking enough on weekends and jealousy about her new college friends.
Allison Kreho, a sophomore, went through a similar situation her freshman year. Her advice to freshman: If the significant other is jealous, they are not worth it.
“We video-chatted every day and were always communicating through text, but if he every heard a male’s voice in the background, he would immediately hang up,” Kreho said.
Kreho said that Facebook, a website created to stay connected with long distance friends, actually caused more harm. “If he saw pictures of me at a party, he would be upset. If he saw a guy next to me in the pictures, I would have to be on the phone with him for an hour reassuring him that I still was his girlfriend,” she said.
Some relationships do make it past the Turkey Drop, however, and Jamie Ballzerini, a senior at Marist, can attest to that. Jamie has been with her boyfriend Matt for over four years. Matt attends college two hours away from Marist, but they make it a point to see each other about four times a month.
“I think being apart has made us even stronger. We have stood by each other no matter what, and I know that I am lucky to have such a great guy in my life.”
As the Thanksgiving break approaches, Ballzerini offered simple advice to freshman experiencing a potential breakup, “Keep the communication and trust. If you truly want to be with them, and they truly want to be with you, it will work.”
Watch Dorm Life’s episode dedicated to the Turkey Drop here.
