Jill Dillard recalls courtship days with Derick, says she 'cried myself to sleep hugging your t-shirt'

Derick and Jill Dillard during their first meeting in Nepal. (Instagram/Derick Dillard)

Long distance relationships are difficult, and Jill Duggar Dillard from the cancelled TLC show "19 Kids and Counting" understands this very well.

During their courtship stage, Jill was in America while Derick was doing missionary work in Nepal. Prior to their first meeting, all Jill and Derick did was talk on the phone. It was only when Jill's dad Jim Bob, who served as the couple's matchmaker, decided that it would be great for them to be with each other that he flew with Jill to Nepal.

Their union was short and sweet. The next couple of months Jill spent separated from Derick felt like the worst times of her life. Now, the young mother to Israel David Dillard is recalling the separation pang she felt.

On her Instagram account (@jillmdillard), she shared a throwback photo of her and Derick standing side by side. "2 years ago I traveled to Nepal with my dad to meet the sweetest most caring and amazing man ever! @derickdillard. I love you with all my (heart) babe! Leaving there and knowing I wasn't gonna get to see you for 60 days was so hard!" she writes. "Many nights I cried myself to sleep hugging your t-shirt! (Anyone who has been in a long distance relationship knows what I'm saying! ;-) So blessed to get to spend the rest of my forever with you mi amor!"

Derick felt the same way. He described his meeting with Jill as an answered prayer, and he appreciated the fact that they are so similar to one another. "Over the next few months we became very grateful for modern technology as we continued to get to know each other better. Most of our conversations were centered around our values and life goals," he shared on the Dillard Family Blog.

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