Case. One partner is often away (shifts, trips); reunions bring estrangement and re-adjustment.
Model. Downtime with no “state replication”: the partners drift in context, and each sync is painful.
Protocol. Keep regular contact as a ritual, not “whenever it works out”; on reunion, budget time for re-sync rather than expecting instant closeness.
Lesson. Distance is held not by the number of calls but by their predictability.
See High availability.