text: if ur loved one goes over seas for a year is letters and phone calls enough to build a relationship on? my boyfriend of 6 months has just left for iraq 2 months ago and i have told him i love him and he hasn't told me yet, does time away from one another help feelings grow or should i face reality and know that if he doesn't love me by now he may never love me especially when he comes home this year? well, if you're not sure that he loved you before he left then it may be hard to tell really. absance does make the heart grow fonder in many cases i think though.