This past June, I got engaged to my best friend. While it's still surreal to me that I'm getting married next year, our love story is the most surreal thing of all.

I met my fiancé when I was 3 years old.

Crazy, right? Of course, it was by no means a love-at-first-sight deal. I mean, how many toddlers run around claiming to have met their soulmate? Even if they did, I doubt that they would have the same feelings today. I, however, was lucky to grow up alongside my soulmate, and for that, I'm forever grateful.

Due to the fact that both of our families attended the same church growing up, we were able to see one another at least once a week. By the time we both entered our middle-high youth group, we developed feelings for one another. Though he did ask me out in the sixth grade, I was not allowed to date back then. I had to turn him down, and he still holds it against me to this day.

After that, we always seemed to catch feelings for each other at the wrong time.

Every time one of us would feel the spark, the other didn't feel the same way. I don't believe either one of us ever admitted to liking the other after that sixth-grade confession. There may have been a chance we both did have feelings at the same time, but neither of us were willing to admit it, at least at first. All of that changed when we started dating our sophomore year of college.

As we got older, we wondered what would happen to our relationship.

Personally, a few months before we began dating, I had reached my breaking point. I felt we had gone back and forth for so long. I just wasn't sure if I was wasting my time. We saw each other the summer before our sophomore year, and I'll never forget that day. After that meeting, I prayed to God and said, "I'm letting go. It's in your hands now. If it's meant to happen, it will happen." A few months later, we began our relationship.

We are engaged today because of the friendship we shared for so many years.

If I could say one thing I've learned throughout this experience, it's this: If you miss someone, tell them. If you want to reach out to someone, do so. If you think someone is worth keeping around, hold on to them tightly.

Never in my wildest dreams did I picture ending up where I am with him today, but it worked out because we were always in each other's hearts. Even if we didn't initially see each other in a romantic way, our friendship could not be broken by distance, time, or other people. When we finally did begin our romantic relationship, it reflected that same spirit, and I'm happy to say we found our happy ending.

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