Darshil's Vows

Babu, from the very beginning, you made me work for it. And it turns out, you were absolutely worth it.

I used to think love was something that happened to you — sudden, effortless, like a door swinging open. But what I've learned from loving you is that it's more like building something. Brick by brick, call by call, flight by flight. And the distance between us — the time zones, the bad wifi, the airport goodbyes that never got easier — none of it wore us down. It just made it clearer. Every time I had to leave, I became more certain. Because choosing someone when it's hard is the only way to really know.

We're almost there. The day you finish school and we close this distance for good is one I think about more than you know. But standing here today, I realize I don't just love the version of our future I'm counting down to. I love every chapter that got us here — including the ones where we were 3,000 miles apart, and still somehow, undeniably, us.

So here is what I promise you.

I promise to work hard on us, every single day, without ever taking you for granted.

I promise to love you with patience and intention — in the ordinary moments and the hard ones, in the seasons that are easy and the ones that ask more of us.

And I promise to keep choosing you — not just today, in front of everyone we love — but quietly, on the regular Tuesdays, for the rest of my life.

Babu, you are my home. And I can't wait to finally live in the same zip code as you.

I love you.