Dear love,

Most girls spend the majority of their lives putting pieces together of their "future life" and hoping to find their perfect match. More importantly, they take the time to think about someone who will be with them in all the good and especially hard times.

I'm very lucky to have found you. This is a bold statement, I know, but we both know that this thing we have is it for us.

In my last couple of articles, I've mentioned people who have helped me throughout my sickness trials. But in more recent years, I haven't had the luxury of having my family a room away when I needed them most -- and luckily, I wasn't alone. You were someone I didn't think would become one of the most people important in my life. Once we began dating almost 2 years ago, you became my go-to for all big and little things. Most importantly, you were the reason my mom hasn't gotten in a car on a whim to make sure I was okay because you told her I was okay.

You are my person.

You have been there for a lot of ups and downs, but especially for an injury I thought would put the final nail into the coffin that is my swimming career. This time one year ago I almost quit; I was swimming 1000-2000 yards a day but was forced to sit on the side of the pool as my team practiced and competed.

One thing I could always count on and gave me peace when I was sick, was that my mom went to every doctor's appointment with me. I was fortunate enough that you were willing to go with me to all the appointments that you could.

This meant the most when I needed an MRI done for my back to see if that was the source of my leg problems at the time. That moment held the most value to me because this was my first "big" test I had needed in 3 years, and the first one I had without my mom by my side.

Having you by my side not only this time, but every time I received bad news regarding swimming after treatment, has been deeply appreciated and I can never thank you enough. You sat with me for hours at some points, trying to make me feel better or just because you wanted to. You called my mom even when I refused to because you knew I needed it.

From 1 Corinthians it says, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hope, always perseveres. Love never fails." This describes you perfectly.

These may not seem like the biggest things. These may even seem normal things for one to do in a relationship, to some. But to me, these things made the biggest difference both then and now. By your acts of kindness and determination to be there for me, it helped me gain reasons to not give up on many dreams I have. It seemed like you were always doing something to make sure I was getting better.

We had made goals to both be on the podium at our conference meet, the final one of the season. But with all of my problems that season, I had just missed the conference team. Luckily, I was still able to go, just as a team manager. After everything you had done for me that season, I was blessed to watch you earn your medal from all your hard work. When the meet finished, we were on the bus ride home talking about your 200 backstrokes when you said, "Don't worry love, you'll have your own medal next year. I can feel it."

There are so many things that you do for me that aren't addressed the way that they probably should be, and are totally underrated in their impacts on me. Like the food and Dr Pepper you surprise me with or listening to my horrible renditions of popular songs. All of my crazy tendencies that come out at inconvenient times, yet you still won't leave my side. You sit there (probably super aggravated, but still there) and that means the world, knowing you won't leave when things are difficult. Especially when I start to get stressed and begin frantically cleaning to "put my life in order" and cry over my unorganized bathroom (yes, this really happened). Even though you and all my roommates laughed, you still sat there and waited for me to calm down, then explained an unorganized bathroom sink was not the end of the world, when I thought it was.

My low points were hard. We've gone through many up and downs trying to figure out the way to be "the best us," a way to encourage and make each other better individually and together. Shockingly enough, God in the middle was exactly what we were missing. I can't thank you enough for being the man you are and always motivating us to be better. You've helped me find my best self through all of your encouragement and love, all of our talks and all the baby steps but most importantly being patient with me through it all. That means the most.

I can't thank you enough for never giving up on talking to me and changing my whole world. There are so many other things I could touch on and thank you for but these are the most important and I hope you know all the others.