Let me tell you a story. This is not your typical whirlwind romance, but one with a little more waiting. Back in 2004, I transferred schools -- from Immaculate Conception Catholic School to Capitol View Christian School. I was just a bullied kid back then, thinking it was just another school, another teacher, another set of acquantances. But it turns out, it was the year I met my God's best. He will always bug me and even say to my mom, "Tita crush ko po anak nyo!" Ako naman syempre deadma lang kasi iba pa priorities ko noon. Hindi ko siya type 🤣 Sobrang kulit at mayabang. We were kids -- and like most of childhood stories, ours ended quietly with graduation in 2006. Walang ligawan. Just one last pagkikita.. and no goodbyes. Then came the long part. 17 years of silence. We are facebook friends, pero walang message, siya randomly nagrereact sa stories ko (since we were also in a relationship for the most parts). He followed me on Ig but never followed him back🤣 Our lives moved on. We grew up -- in different schools, different circles, different versions of ourselves. But as life would have it, in 2023 -- just when I least expect it -- there he was in my inbox. Older, a little wiser, less pa-cool, pero gwapo pa rin! and finally... ready. And just like that, all the years melted into one conversation that led to another. The kid who once had a crush? Now the man I'll be calling my husband. Sometimes, right love takes so much time. Sometimes, it takes detours -- through years of silence, heartbreaks, through growing up separately, through life's delays and challenges. But if it's meant for you, it always finds its way back. This is our story. It took us 19 years to get here -- But I wouldn't change a thing. Because every step, every year, every tear, every life's lesson, every moment brought me home.. The long way home -- to you.