I was fifteen years old when I fell in love.

I was a sophomore in high school, I didn't even have my driver's license yet, and I was still rightfully viewed as a child, and because of that, I spent a lot of the early stages of my relationship hearing how "this was only puppy love", "you won't ever be anything serious", and "this isn't a love that's built to last".

Well, this past week my boyfriend and I were blessed to celebrate our four-year anniversary, and I can undoubtedly say that having him by my side all of this time has been one of the greatest gifts I have ever received. We have endured so much since our journey together began, and it has shown me just how beautiful young love can be.

We have stood by each other as we experienced the many lessons life has to offer. As adolescents, we grow through life and are faced with many challenges that eventually turn into lessons we learn and carry with us throughout our lives. It goes without saying that many of these hardships have been anything but seamless – our four years together have been riddled with mistakes and setbacks but we ultimately took these experiences and used them to further advance our relationship in a positive light. It certainly has not been the easiest – it can be frustrating and exhausting, but every single one of our challenges has made our relationship into what it today, and I wouldn't change a thing if I could.

My love only grows stronger the longer we are together. As cliché as this may sound, I find us falling even more in love with each other the longer we are together. It seems that the way we know each other inside-out and as our memories together grow and grow, our connection to one another only continues to strengthen. Our relationship matures alongside of us as we find ourselves maturing as individuals and it contributes to creating the beautiful love story we have built for ourselves after all of this time.

We have watched each other grow into the people we are today. It is safe to say that we are both vastly different people than the ones we initially fell in love with, and that is okay. In fact, in my opinion, it is even better than okay. Every single accomplishment, every single fight, every single step of our young lives has been taken with his hand in mine and the experiences we have endured throughout our time together have helped mold us into who we are now as young adults. I am forever thankful for our mutually endless love and support, our patience with each other even throughout the toughest challenges, and most importantly, so much love.

Happy (now belated) anniversary to my love.

thank you for growing with me, thank you for learning with me, thank you for being by my side for these last four years – to many, many more.