Is there anyone out there that has had a long distance relationship really work?

At the end of this month the guy I have been seeing is moving south (1.5 hr flight away) he could be gone for as little as 6mnths but up to 2yrs for a job (I know 6mnths is a long time to wait for someone and 2yrs especially bad). We don’t want to stop seeing each other. I know it seems silly and a lot of people say long distance relationships don’t work. Has anyone out there really had one work?