For you, my love.

2 DECEMBER 2026

My love,

In a few weeks, we’ll have been together for a year. When I look back, I don’t see an easy year. I see one that tested us more than most people’s first year, and I see you still standing next to me.

There are things I’m sorry for. There were times I hurt you, and you had every reason to step back. Each time, you chose to trust me again. I don’t take that for granted, and I want to keep earning it.

And there were things that weren’t about wrongdoing at all. The abortion, and the pain that came after it, were some of the hardest things I’ve ever faced. At my lowest, when I didn’t want to be here anymore, you didn’t turn away. You stayed in the hard, frightening places with me. I’ll never forget that.

Because of you, I know what it feels like to be held through the worst of it. You’ve shown me what patient, honest, brave love looks like, and you’ve made me want to heal, not out of guilt, but because I feel safe enough to try.

I’m not just grateful for the year behind us. I’m hopeful about the one ahead.

Thank you for choosing me, again and again. I choose you too.

Always yours,
Shakinah