扒一扒美帝軍人的Skype愛情故事（英文原版）

Holidays can be rough for military personnel serving overseas, and Valentine』s Day is no exception. But if you thought this was hard enough, try having the love of your life halfway around the world getting a degree in the US. The story below has helped us all believe that true love is not bound to miles apart…

對於海外服役的軍人來說，假期是很艱難的，情人節也不例外。但如果你認為這很難，那就試著在世界的另一半獲得你在美國的學位吧。下面的故事幫助我們大家相信真愛不一定相隔千里…

Justine and Derek met in high school in La Verne, CA.

她和Derek米德在高中在洛杉磯，約

「After he graduated, we connected at my senior homecoming together,」 Justine explains. 「That night, we danced a ton and he asked my father if we could date when we got back to my house. I』d always had a crush on him, so it was wonderful.」

「畢業后，我們連在我的高中同學會在一起，」Justine解釋說。「那天晚上，我們跳了一噸，他問我父親，我們回到家后是否可以約會。我一直對他有好感，所以它是美好的。」

Their high school romance, however, was destined to last only one short month. After breaking up (neither of them remembers why), Justine and Derek went their separate ways, neither keeping in touch with the other until three years later, in 2011.

然而，他們的高中戀情註定只能持續一個月。分手后（他們都不記得為什麼），朱絲婷和德里克分道揚鑣，既保持與其他觸摸直到三年後，在2011。

Skype – the lifeline of a relationship

Skype–關係的生命線

It was when Justine saw Derek』s name come up in a social media feed that she decided to reconnect with him. By then Derek had joined the US Army and was stationed in Germany.

這是當朱絲婷看到德里克的名字在社交媒體的飼料，她決定重新與他來了。那時德里克已經加入美國軍隊，駐紮在德國。

「Skype gave us the ability to chat face-to-face while we were more than 5,600 miles away from each other,」 says Justine.

「Skype給我們面對面的交流的能力，當我們從對方超過5600英里遠，」海寧說。

「I love to say Skype was the lifeline to our relationship. Since we hadn』t been in touch for three years, we were able to catch up as though we were in the same room. Thousands of miles became close to nothing when we were face-to-face.」

我喜歡說Skype是我們關係的生命線。因為我們已經三年沒聯繫了，所以我們就好像在同一個房間里一樣。當我們面對面時，數千英里變得幾乎什麼都沒有。」

「I was so grateful to reconnect this way, and we were able to grow each day in how we cared for each other. We would talk and talk for hours—and it was wonderful! This went on for two years during which time, I saw him for two weeks at a time while he was on leave from the Army.」

「我非常感激能重新連接起來，我們每天都能在彼此關心的方式中成長。」。我們會聊上幾個小時，真是太棒了！這種情況持續了兩年，在此期間，我在他離開軍隊的時候，一次又見了他兩個星期。

Being in person always made it that much more difficult to be apart again, but they found it bearable knowing they』d soon be together again on Skype. In fact, Skype saw them through his year-long deployment in Afghanistan.

親身經歷總是讓人難以再分開，但他們知道他們很快就能在Skype上再次相聚。事實上，Skype通過他們在阿富汗的長期部署看到了他們。

「At times, connections were rough, but Skype always pulled through—and so did we,」 she says. Without their ability to video chat, Justine felt they might not have survived such a long long-distance relationship.

她說：「有時候，連接很粗糙，但Skype總是能通過，我們也一樣。」。沒有他們的視頻聊天功能，朱絲婷覺得他們可能沒有這麼長的異地戀倖存。

While Derek was stationed in Afghanistan, Justine was in school full-time pursuing her undergraduate degree.

而德里克是駐紮在阿富汗，她在學校專職攻讀大學部學位。

「With Afghanistan being about 12 hours ahead of us, scheduling time to chat was difficult, but we made it work,」 says Justine. 「I』d chat with him between classes or on lunch. And at night, I』d go to bed early or stay up until midnight to chat with him while he was on lunch.」

「阿富汗有大約12個小時，在我們前面，調度時間聊天是很困難的，但我們做到了，」海寧說。「我會在上課或午餐時和他聊天。晚上，我很早就上床睡覺或熬夜到半夜和他聊天，而他正在吃午飯。」

365 love notes

365愛的音符

「I worked secretly to craft 365 love notes that told him how much I loved him, what his best traits were, and what I looked forward to in our lives together,」 Justine recounts. 「I packaged them up and shipped them to him in Afghanistan along with other care package items.」

「我曾偷偷工藝365情書，告訴他我是多麼愛他，他最好的特質是什麼，我期待著我們一起生活，」朱絲婷敘述。「我把它們包裝起來，連同其他包裹包裹物品一起運到阿富汗。」

「I was able to be on Skype with him as he opened the jar of individually wrapped love notes and I explained what they were for. Each day, he was to open one and then he』d be that much closer to coming home. I』ll never forget the smile I got that day and how much wider it got when he opened the first one. Throughout the year, he』d typically wait to open them while we were on Skype together. For deployed soldiers, it』s hard to count the days—so they just don』t. With these notes, it was the best way to know home was closer to being a reality.」

「當他打開單獨包裝的情書時，我可以和他在Skype上聊天，我解釋了他們是做什麼的。每一天，他都要打開一個，然後他就更接近回家了。我永遠不會忘記那天我得到的笑容，以及他打開第一個微笑時的笑容。一年中，他通常會等著我們在Skype上一起打開它們。對於被部署的士兵來說，很難計算他們的日子，所以他們不知道。

A surprise graduation present

驚喜的畢業禮物

One of Justine』s favorite Skype moments was when she graduated from college and Derek surprised her by video calling during the ceremony.

一個最喜歡的時刻是朱絲婷Skype她大學畢業時，德里克驚訝她在儀式上視頻通話。

「There I was, among hundreds of grads sitting in our chairs—and my Skype app pings me. I answered and he stayed on, writing me congrats and sweet things, being on video until they called my name. I was able to capture this moment by taking a screenshot, and it made graduation so special because he was 「there」 despite being more than 7,500 miles away.「

「我在那裡，在數百名畢業生坐在我們的椅子，我的Skype應用程序ping我。我回答說，他留了下來，寫我的祝賀和甜的東西，在視頻直到他們叫我的名字。我能用截圖捕捉到這一刻，它使畢業變得特別，因為他在那裡，儘管有7500多英里遠。

Long-distance celebrations

長距離的慶祝活動

Another fun time was when Derek made Justine a Build-a-Bear military-themed bunny named Derek Jr. (the bunny was to watch over her until he got home), and waited for her to open her present while they were on Skype together.

另一個有趣的時間在製造什麼德里克賈斯汀a Build-a-Bear軍事為主題的小兔子（兔子命名德里克看什麼。以前有過，直到他和家庭），但在這裡我們打開禮物他們在Skype在一起。

They also celebrated a Valentine』s Day together when Derek sent Justine three bouquets of roses, and called via Skype to tell her how much he loved her.

他們還慶祝情人節在一起的時候，德里克派朱絲婷三玫瑰花束，並用skype通話，告訴她他愛她有多深。

Birthdays are days soldiers often struggle with because they aren』t home and there aren』t celebrations to be had, Justine explained.

生日是天士兵常常因為他們沒有家，沒有慶祝活動是有，賈斯汀解釋。

「I packed an awesome box together with cake, candles, candy goodies, other care items, and the full Stars Wars DVD collection. Being the Star Wars fan he is, it was a wonderful birthday and one where I got to sing Happy Birthday over Skype to him.」

我用蛋糕、蠟燭、糖果、其他護理品和全明星戰爭DVD收集了一個很棒的盒子。他是星戰迷，這是一個美妙的生日，我用Skype給他唱生日歌。

The holidays too can be rough stationed so far away from home, so Justine got Derek』s entire family to record videos wishing him a Happy Thanksgiving.

假期也可以粗糙駐紮離家很遠，所以她得到了德里克的整個家庭錄製視頻祝福他感恩節快樂。

「I organized everything into a sweet video compilation and was online with him on Skype as he watched all the love everyone sent. Many of these moments were teary-eyed memories that we were able to create together despite the distance.」

「我把所有的東西組織成一個甜蜜的視頻編輯，並在Skype上和他一起在線觀看所有的愛。這些時刻是含淚的眼睛，我們能夠一起創造儘管距離的回憶。」

Happily ever after

從此過上了幸福的生活

After his deployment in Afghanistan, Derek was stationed in Washington State. The time difference with California was no longer a barrier but it still meant they had to be apart from each other for another two years until Derek left his five-years of service with an honorable discharge and military honors.

德里克在阿富汗部署后駐紮在華盛頓州。與加利福尼亞的時差不再是一個障礙，但這仍然意味著他們必須分開兩年，直到德里克離開了他五年的服役期，並獲得了光榮的退伍和軍事榮譽。

「He』s finally home, and we always look back at our time apart with fondness,」 says Justine. 「If we could use Skype to communicate over thousands of miles, we could talk through things together in the same room. Turns out that』s true for us, and today, we are almost two years married and very wonderfully happy. 「

「他終於回家了，我們總是回頭看我們分開一段時間的喜愛，」海寧說。「如果我們能用Skype進行數千英里的通訊，我們就能在同一個房間里一起交談。」。原來這對我們來說是真的，今天，我們結婚快兩年了，非常幸福。「

Thank you, Justine and Derek, for sharing your beautiful story with us! And massive congratulations on a successful three-year long-distance relationship—we』re honored to have been a part of it.

謝謝你，她和德里克，和我們分享你的美麗故事！熱烈祝賀三年成功的遠距離關係，我們很榮幸成為其中的一部分。

To all of you, if you have a Skype story you』d like to share, just tag us @Skype on social media. We』d love to hear it!

對你們所有人來說，如果你有一個你想分享的Skype故事，只要在社交媒體上給我們貼上Skype就行了。我們很想聽聽！