On this day, one year ago, I made a commitment. A commitment I haven't always kept perfectly, but one I have never, for a single second, regretted making.
One year ago, I chose you. I chose to love you, to grow with you, to laugh with you, to make memories with you, and to keep choosing you every day after. Looking back now, I don't think I could've imagined just how much this year would change me.
I said the L word for the first time and made official the beautiful relationship we had already begun building. I remember being nervous, but I also remember how right it felt. There was never a question in my mind that you were someone special. Somewhere between our conversations, our laughs, and all the little moments in between, you had already become my favorite person.
We went on a beautiful picnic date, and I fell deeper and deeper in love with you. It wasn't anything extravagant, but I don't think our love needs extravagance. It just needs moments where the world gets quiet, and all you can think about is the person sitting across from you. August gave me many of those moments.
We had an incredible night out with your friends. Singing, biking, drinking. We explored the pumpkin patch with our favorite little friend, laughed until our stomachs hurt, kissed in the corn maze, and ran from bees. Then came one of the hardest goodbyes I've ever had to say. The place I was starting to call home lost the soul that made it my home.
We struggled, but somehow the distance only brought us closer. We had cute date nights through our screens, found little ways to stay connected, and learned that love isn't measured by how close you are physically, but by how much effort you're willing to put in every single day. Looking back, I think those months made our foundation so much stronger.
It got cold here, and even lonelier without you. The thing that kept me going every day was making sure you woke up to a brand new video. Every night I'd think about what would make you smile the next morning. It became my favorite part of the day. Watching how hard you worked, how determined you were, and how much you cared about your future inspired me more than you probably know. Even from thousands of miles away, you somehow kept pushing me to become better.
I started counting down the days. I hate long flights to India, but I don't think I've ever looked forward to one more. Every day felt like crossing another number off a calendar until I finally got to see you again.
A brand new year. I flew halfway across the world to finally experience everything you'd spent months telling me about. Every place felt more special because you were showing it to me. But January also became one of the hardest months for us. I blundered. I showed you the worst side of myself and admitted to struggles I'd been hiding from you. Then I ran from them instead of facing them. Looking back, I know I wasn't the partner you deserved in those moments. But instead of giving up on us, we chose to understand each other. Every difficult conversation, every tear, every uncomfortable moment somehow brought us closer together. We left January stronger than we entered it.
I needed you, and you became my backbone. I experienced a loss I'd never gone through before, and you carried me through it with more love and patience than I knew I deserved. You never made me feel like I had to go through it alone. When I came back, I may not have planned the perfect date, but somehow it became perfect because it was with you. Then you gave me the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me. I still think about it all the time, not because of what it was, but because of how deeply it showed me you understood me.
We made adorable little vlogs that I still rewatch way too often because I love hearing the excitement in your voice whenever you talk about something you love. We had cute study sessions in Ann Arbor, wandered around together, and found comfort in doing absolutely nothing as long as we were together. Those ordinary days have become some of my favorite memories because they remind me that you make even the simplest moments feel special.
I had the privilege of meeting your whole family, and in an instant I was a part of your family. Writing this is making me tear up, because a lot of families talk about love, but the moment I step foot in your house, I truly feel it.
I don't think I'll ever forget how welcomed I felt. There wasn't a single moment where I felt like an outsider. Somehow your family made me feel like I'd belonged there for years, and I understand now why you're the person you are. You come from a family that loves loudly, generously, and unconditionally, and I feel incredibly lucky that they opened their hearts to me too.
I got to witness one of your greatest achievements: graduating from one of the best schools in the nation (🙄). Watching you walk across that stage filled me with so much pride. I know how hard you worked for that moment, and seeing you surrounded by the people who love you reminded me just how many lives you've impacted already. You are so unbelievably talented, and I know this is only the beginning. You'll receive so many more flowers in your life, because you earn every single one of them.
We went on one of our favorite dates, had some of the best gnocchi ever, wandered through Eastern Market, and shared one of those mornings I wish I could relive over and over again. They weren't grand adventures, they were just us. And somehow, "just us" has become my favorite place to be.
May was also difficult for me. I struggled with myself and my career, and you stood beside me through every bit of it. Even when I couldn't find the strength to pick myself back up, you never stopped believing that I would. You saw something in me that I wasn't able to see in myself.
The months since then haven't been perfect.
I've made mistakes. We've misunderstood each other. We've had conversations we wish we didn't need to have, and we've had moments where loving each other wasn't easy. But through every high and every low, one thing has never changed, we've always found our way back to each other. Every challenge has taught us something new about ourselves and about what it means to truly love another person.
So today, on our one-year anniversary, I want to make another commitment. Every year on this day, I will ask you out again, never taking you for granted no matter how many years pass by.
I promise to choose you every single day, especially on the difficult ones. I promise to love you in the ways that make you feel loved, not just in the ways that come naturally to me. I promise to communicate better, to listen more, to become someone who brings you peace instead of uncertainty, and to never stop growing into the man you deserve.
I want to celebrate your victories as if they were my own, hold your hand through every setback, dance with you in the kitchen, travel the world with you, laugh until our stomachs hurt, and build a life where, years from now, we can look back on this first year and smile because it was only the beginning.
Niyati, you are my best friend, the woman of my dreams, the greatest being to ever grace this planet, all wrapped into one tiny, adorable, beautiful, and incredibly sexy woman.
I have watched you grow into an even stronger, kinder, and more inspiring version of yourself over this past year. Every day you continue to amaze me with your heart, your ambition, your compassion, and the way you make everyone around you feel loved. I can't wait to keep watching you become everything you've ever dreamed of becoming.
I haven't always been the person you could lean on when you needed me most. But I promise that the years ahead will be different. I want to be your safe place, your biggest supporter, the hand you instinctively reach for, and the person who reminds you, every single day, that you'll never have to face life alone.