ione,

i've started writing this in the morning, a morning where i'm sitting in this gorgeous place in the maldives right on top of the beach you've wanted to go to for ages as you're sleeping soundly right next to me with your hand up against my side. through all the amazing and exciting things we've been able to experience together, sometimes it's just moments like these that i'd like to keep forever. moments that are just so pure and natural where everything is still and i can look over at you, the woman i love with all my heart, and feel that sense of divine happiness with just being around you.

it's hard to remember a time without you in my life because you've become such an integral part to my being. who could've known that the stubborn girl from nashville would manage to steal the heart of the just as stubborn boy from wokingham? with our history and all its twists and turns, we laugh and say that it was "expected" but really i could have never fully expected you and all that you are. you came into my life full of vibrancy, filled with complexities and with so much love to give. i've felt all of that to the fullest.

because of you and for you i strive to better myself and work with you on this winding road of life to figure out all the ins and outs of our relationship and keep on working at it because that's what a partnership is. we've been able to build up our foundation so much so that it's the most secure it has ever been, but i'm still learning all of your beautiful intricacies and i want to continue learning every single day. you're my favourite thing, that book in the library i'm always going to go for.

this hasn't always been easy for us and i think it's important to acknowledge that, as we have been, because that makes us who we are and got us to where we've gotten to now. we have been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. there have been times we've fought not knowing when and if we'd speak to each other again, there have been times that we've confirmed the notion that nothing we've ever experienced has been a love quite like this. you have been the single most important person in my life through it all and all that we've been through has led us here and because of that i'm grateful that we found our way back to each other. no. that sounds too much like a coincidence and it wasn't. i'm grateful that we actively worked on ourselves, worked with each other, and constructed our own path of happiness mixing in both of our needs. that's the thing. we built this, you and i, and it's no coincidence. it came from hard work, dedication, the truest form of friendship, lots of communication, and love. so, so, so much love.

i loved you then, i love you now, and i'll continue loving you forever. happy valentine's day, baby.