It was the Summer of 2011 when my sister, Brittany visited. During this time, she wouldn't stop talking about this Brandon kid. Jokingly, I sent him a text. "Hey, it's Brittany's brother, Brandon !" We stayed up all night messaging back and forth until he fell asleep around 2am. I couldn't sleep the rest of the night due to this overwhelming sense of sadness. The following day while I was at work, I finally received a response. That awful pit in my stomach quickly turned into butterflies. The following week it was time for my sister to go back to Chipley, Florida. I knew then, that this was my chance to meet Brandon in person. I remember begging my mom to let me go, reluctantly, she agreed. The first time we laid eyes on one another was in Chipley, Florida. Brandon walked into the house with the biggest smile on his face. Meanwhile, I am trying to bury my face in my phone. The butterflies were back and stronger than ever. He looks at me from across the room and nervously says 'What's up Mr. Man". The sparks started flying from here. During my week in Chipley, we tried to spend every single moment together. Everyone assumed we turned into instant best friends but it was more than that. We connected on such a deep level. I never wanted that week to end. The week flew by in the blink of an eye. The night before I left, we stayed up holding one another while tears fell down our faces. We couldn't even talk without the tears coming. We were 16 and lived 4 hours away from each other. We couldn't fathom being separated. When my dad arrived the next day, I got into the back of his car. With tears rolling down my face I stared at Brandon through the back window as we drove away. The first two years of our relationship was challenging. We were able to see each other one weekend a month. This just wasn't enough. Once I turned 18, I moved to Chipley where we could be together permanently. It's been over 9 years since we first met and I would do it all over again.