To the boy who has shown me an immense amount of love the past (well, almost) 5 years, I truly do not know where I would be in this world without you by my side. I love you a WHOLE lot!

If you know my boyfriend, you would know that he is the sweetest, smartest, most genuine and supportive soul I have ever met in my entire life. We were so incredibly lucky to cross paths way back in high school, and soon we will be approaching the end of our third year of long distance. After graduating high school, we were very well aware we would not be attending the same colleges. Clearly, this didn't stop us from doing the whole long distance in college thing considering we have been going strong ever since graduating back in 2016.

I tell a lot of people this, but I honestly believe long distance is not as terrible as it may seem. Yes, it can get very lonely when we are apart and at first it was incredibly hard adjusting to not seeing each other whenever we wanted. My boyfriend and I do everything in our absolute power to be there for one another consistently, and make plans with one another whether it is a Skype date on a Friday night, or planning out trips to visit each other's schools once a month. Long distance is hard, and some may say it isn't even worth it. But for that boy, I would do absolutely anything.

Usually I'm not the type to get all mushy and emotional in my articles like most writers on Odyssey do towards their significant other. This past year has been the hardest of my life; I've lost loved ones, struggled with my school work, dealt with unfortunate events with my family and consistently doubted myself.

My boyfriend was the only person in my world that consistently knew what was going on with me, built me up when I was down, believed in me when I didn't love or believe in myself, and always showered me with support when I needed it most.

He was the one I cried too when things were going terribly in my life, and he was also the one who I called with every ounce of exciting news that was going on around me in my college world. I wish I told him more how much I appreciate his kind heart. If you are reading this, I hope you know how much of a huge spot in my heart you take up. You genuinely are my entire world, and I truly thank God every day for your good health, success, happiness and the ability to call you my boyfriend.

We have been together since high school, and like I said, long distance has played a major part in our relationship. We spend majority of the year away from one another, but when we are together, it truly is electric. All of the love, support, and confidence boosts I get over the phone is received just has much, maybe even more, when we are together in person (usually it includes an incredibly tight hug where he squeezes all the air out of me).

Long distance has never been something we questioned, and it has never been something that has broken our strong bond. It actually strengthened everything I love about us; our communication skills, our reassurance towards one another, our love and support from hundreds of miles away. It isn't something that defined our relationship and it never will because one day when it is all over and our matching couple long distance bracelets are framed in our home one day, we are going to say it may have been the best thing for our relationship. We both have had completely different college experiences; different friends, different environments, drastically different classes and schedules, and that is completely okay. But one thing that was not different over the course of these 4 years in college was our love for one another.

My 5 year relationship is worth all the years of long distance if it meant I would end up with the sweetest, most kind-hearted and handsome boy I have ever had the privilege of crossing paths with.

Michael, thank you for being you and all you do for me. I cannot explain how much I love you and how much of a positive impact you have had on my life.

Here is to one more year of long distance, and then forever together with lots of Golden Retrievers, (and maybe ONE husky).

Rosie