Growing up together

I met my boyfriend at a friends house when I was in 7th grade. We were playing ghost in the graveyard with her neighbors. It may sound cheesy.. but I knew right away that he was the one for me.

He didn't live in my town, so I didn't get to see him often. His uncles house was next to my friends house, and he lived about 20 minutes away. I didn't know much about him, so I couldn't find him on social media. A few years went by, and I had just broken up with my high school boyfriend of 5 months, LOL, and I got to see him again. I was 15 then, and he was 17. We exchanged phone numbers and would text all day long. A few months in, he asked me to be his girlfriend. We were so young. I was only exclusively with him for 1 month when he turned 18. That first summer together was so fun. I turned 16 that year. My chronic illness flared up, causing me to switch to home schooling, but this didn't scare him away.

2016: When I was 17, he spent months teaching me how to drive in his car. How trusting, right?! I passed my drivers test on my first try thanks to him, and all of the parallel parking he made me do.

2017: I turned 18, him now 20. I finished high school early in January (thanks home schooling), and was finally healthy. I got my first car and my first job. He believed in me. I walked the stage in June and got the graduation experience with my class.

2018: 19 was a good year for me. We traveled together for the first time. We went to San Diego, Cape Cod and Colorado. He turned 21. I went with him to buy his first bottle of alcohol. Grey Goose, of course.

2019: 20 was quiet, but stable. We hungout with our friends, and I still had the same job. He was 22, and working with his best friend at his dads company.

February 2020. I turned 21, and had a huge birthday party thrown for me. He was by my side the whole time, and helped plan it. The world shut down March 2020. We didn't see friends for a long time, but spent so much time together.

2021: I turned 22, and he turned 24. A long ways from when we first met. We traveled, learned new recipes, and started purchasing items to move in together. We were thinking of buying a house the next year.

2022: If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. 2022 was, as dramatic as it sounds, the worst year of my life so far. I got extremely ill in July, lost my job, my independence, hell, even my sanity. I was so sick, and no one could help me. I lost 40 pounds in a few months. No stable income meant no moving out. I got zero answers from doctors that I waited months to see. My mom and boyfriend had to do everything for me. At the end of 2022, my doctor set me up with a therapist for those with chronic illnesses. I had tried therapy once before but didnt think I needed it. It has since changed my life. I research medications and trials and holistic treatments to try to help my illness. My boyfriend has helped me with bills, and even spends his free time researching, too. I have come a long way, but wouldn't have without his help.

2023: We are here. I am doing slightly better. I'm stable. My boyfriend told me this was going to be our year, and I believe him. I'm trying to find a remote job in the meantime. I firmly believe I will work again this year, but my boyfriend has helped me substatially. We will do big things this year. We have come so far since 15 and 17 years old.

He has proven time and time again that he will stay, "in sickness and in health". So many major life milestones have been celebrated together. He is my other half, my best friend. I feel so fortunate to have found him so young, and to have shared so many years together in our young age. Forever to go.