I’ll relay my experiences. Hopefully they can help.
I’ve been married for 14+ years. I have 3 kids from my marriage. My wife and I met online and married after 6 months of knowing each other. At the time we met, I lived on the West Coast and she lived on the East Coast. Before we married, we probably saw each other 2 or 3 times and spent very little time together. We are currently on the verge of divorce and have been so for quite a few years now.
When my wife and I met, we were head over heels for each other. We both had people in our lives that tried to give us advice to slow things down but we did not take any of their advice. We saw those individuals as hindrances to our “plan”. Because it was difficult maintaining a long distance relationship with each other, we rushed into marriage, ill prepared, with very little knowledge about each other. I’m cautioning you to not make the mistakes we made.
If there are people in your life that love you and want the best for you, don’t be afraid to factor in their advice even if it puts at risk the thing you want the most. Our hearts are deceitful and cannot be trusted. The same heart that causes a man to fall in love with a woman and marry her is the same heart that will cause him to fall in love with another woman and cheat on his wife. Sometimes we need people who are outside the influence of a heart in love to help us make sound relationship choices.
If you really want to gauge whether or not you and this fellow can make it, then someone has to move. If my wife and I had perhaps spent more time together to delve into each other at a deeper level, we could have avoided some challenges we faced today.

Hi Kristen.

I’m glad to hear that you are taking it slowly. I suggest you relay this to your family. Let them know that even though you have feelings for your BF, you still have your senses and wit. Just reassure them. If I were your father, I’d love to meet your BF and shake his hand for myself. Maybe even take him to the gun range lol (I’ve told my girls that this is my first “date” with their BFs). Remember, your family, specifically your parents have a whole lot invested into you. They have poured into you all your life. If they weren’t giving you a hard time, you should be worried 🙂
It is also good for your BF to understand that your Family loves you deeply. This is a good deterrent for a specific type of guy that you can encounter during long distance relationships.
HTH.