True Tales: From Childhood to Forever: A Timeless Love

First time, I met her was at our School. We grew up in the same neighbourhood, went to the same school and our families even attended the same church. By the time we reached ninth grade, she was my best friend. We shared everything—homework struggles, teenage angst, secret crushes. I don’t think there was a single thought or feeling we didn’t tell each other about each other. Her name was Maya and she was my most constant companion.

We breezed through our tenth-grade exams together but all that changed after that when we moved to different schools. I remember our last day together. We hugged each other tight and promised to stay in touch, but life happened differently than we had planned it would be . The new environment, the new friends, the new routines—it all created a chasm between us. Days turned into months and months into years without hearing from one another . It’s as if we never existed in each other’s lives at all.

One day, I was scrolling through Facebook while still at twelfth grade when a friend request popped up on my screen.Instantly, i followed suit with sweet memories of old times flooding back into me.My heart skipped a beat as soon as I saw who it came from; Maya's profile picture showed up right next to it.I quickly accepted this request since so much of my past kept coming back to me now.We started talking and it was amazing. I was amazed at how much we had in common, how similar our lives were, and the fact that the only things which had changed were us.

After two months, I realized I loved her. It was slow but definite. To be sincere, my thoughts about her would never stop until she texted me back and in some way; I would feel empty when she goes offline on Facebook though courage to say came a cropper with me. Suppose she also doesn’t want anything further? Suppose I lose my best friend for the second time?

Then one day while we chatted through nothing much in particular, my phone buzzed with a message that turned everything around. She let out her feelings to me but she wasn’t willing to tell me because of thinking that it may destroy our friendship. Feelings of relief and happiness overwhelmed me. In response, I said “me too” then for once in my life felt complete.

Despite the fact that this was the end of high school for both of us and we were faced with decisions about our futures; still our relationship grew from strength to strength.We somehow made it work. We had our fair share of ups and downs, but we stuck by each other. I was thrilled when I was accepted into a foreign university for my undergraduate education; however, part of me dreaded her absence.

We vowed to keep distance from changing anything between us, but the whole thing was worse than either of us expected. There were time differences, busy schedules that could not allow calls to be answered on time, misunderstandings that resulted from all these. Our fights increased and trust issues started seeping in. However, each occasion we got near breaking up there has been some way again for both people to return to each other. In fact, love triumphed over such distance. I dont even remember how many times we brokeup and got back together in few hours , lol.

Time passed by. I finished my degree and found a job overseas. The long-distance relationship was still working out well for us though it was obvious it was wearing thin on us both. After one terrible night fight with her, she sat down and thought about everything—my path so far; our survival through many hardships; how much change had come about in the course of years as shown by both of us together? It then struck me that the future without her seemed impossible to think of any longer than this very moment only! The next day I rang her up and asked her to marry me.
.
.
.
.

Someone remained silent on the other end and then she said yes.

Maya and I are now planning our wedding. Innocent days of childhood friendship have evolved into a long path through stormy teenage years, the struggle with being in a relationship despite distance between us. We overcame all these difficulties and became stronger. The struggles we went through would prove that love can conquer anything when one is persistent enough. Now the truth is that all those fights, tears and moments of doubt only served to bring us closer. There is no barrier that cannot be overcome as we prepare for this new journey through life knowing that Maya will always be by my side.

P.S. Maya is not her real name.

Thank you all for reading!