I am 19 years old and happily engaged. I will be 21 when I get to marry the love of my life. Yes, we are having a three year engagement. I hear the constant comments from some of my family, family friends, our friends, as well as people who do not have a right to even have an opinion about our relationship because they barely know us. People telling me to “wait until you have a career” or asking me, “How do you know he is the one? You’re so young” or the ever present, “Are you pregnant?” (No, Mom, I’m not. Don’t worry!)
Love is a funny thing. You can’t choose when you will meet the one that is meant for you. You cannot even chose how you meet. My three-year relationship is built off a simple DM on Twitter. Yay, social media! We met a month after I turned 16; I was just old enough to drive and feel like I had some sort of freedom. Before Adam, I didn’t have any sense when it came to boys. I was a prime example of a girl with too little self confidence, and completely boy crazy. Needless to say, I had never intended on falling in love with Adam. Hell, I didn’t even think I was going to date him (thank you, Taylor, for constantly bringing this up). However, while our love may not have been at first sight, I fell for him at 16 years old. Why would I give up the love of my life because I am too young according to the standards of today’s society?
Adam saved me from going down a somewhat dark path. No, I wouldn’t be dead in a ditch without him. But, would I be in college? Probably not. I lost a lot of friends when we started dating, becoming obsessed with the simple way he made my happy. I felt like the prettiest girl in the world and I still do, every day. Three months into our relationship it became clear (to everyone) that we were glued at the hip and would continue to be. Going to separate colleges was not an option. I ended up transferring high schools to be with him (and to escape the hell hole that was my high school) and we started researching colleges. Long story short: we ended up at the same school and decided to move in together during March of our freshman year. A month prior to that, Adam proposed.
The first thing I did after I said, “yes,” was ask him if he had talked to my dad about this. I know dad loves him, but I had no idea the proposal was coming. How did they all hide that from me so well? Dad gave him his blessing. However, I remained nervous. I knew I would get a lot of “you’re too young” comments. While I am madly in love, I am also one to take every little comment to heart. To my relief, I received nothing but love and support from the people who truly matter. I began to realize those who disagreed with our engagement did not need to be in our life. The majority of the people making comments questioning our choices are those who don’t know our relationship. Those who do know us, know we were made for each other.
We have been engaged for six months, now. Our apartment isn’t too shabby and we love spending every day together. He is my best friend and I don’t regret a thing.
There is no such thing as being to young to be in love, and no one should be told otherwise.
