There were times when I lost my faith in love. There were also times when I felt like maybe there was something I did that was so bad that I did not deserve to belong with someone else. A few tears later and after the self-pity has subsided, the hopeless romantic in me would gain strength and I would be back on the search once more… only to fail miserably again.

It wasn’t until the day that I said: “All or nothing” when things started to change for me. It was a secret pact I made with myself. It was either I’d find the one or I’d spend the rest of my life being content with living life precariously through my siblings. By then I was feeling pretty pessimistic and was thinking that nobody every really finds the one. People around me were merely settling down and my parents’ relationship ended up in separation. Not very inspiring. Until I met him.

It wasn’t the fireworks-at-first-sight kind of thing when my brother introduced us and we didn’t become fast friends either. I can’t remember it exactly when we became close friends. It was like one day I just knew who he was and in the next, we were hanging out so much… text messaging each other every day ’til one day, I found myself missing him. My day didn’t feel complete if I didn’t get to speak or see him. That’s when I knew that I’ve fallen… that was four years before we got married and six years ago from today.

He has always been so wonderfully patient with me and still loves me even when I am at my worst. He makes me feel so secure. I see him across a crowded room always a vision of calm and quiet confidence, nothing else mattered. Not my nervousness enveloping me in a room full of strangers, not my inability to make small talk… none of those feelings mattered. I can’t think of a better person to spend the rest of my life with. I feel so privileged to be growing old with him. I can’t wait to know that one day far from now, I’ll be at his side and watch the world pass us by.

There are so many things in him that I am grateful for. I am most especially thankful for his love. It is his love that has shown me that I am indeed worthy. He makes me feel loved not just by him… but also by my self.

The song “Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts summarized everything I felt and feel. I know that many of you can relate to this song too. Here’s the video: