Annesha,

It's Girlfriend's Day, and I'm sitting here in Coimbatore thinking about how strange it is that someone in Asansol, over a thousand kilometers away, has become the person I want to tell everything to first.

Since December 13th, we've done this the hard way — time differences that aren't really differences but somehow still feel like distance, calls that end too soon, and days where all I have of you is a photo and your voice. Long distance isn't easy, and I won't pretend it always feels okay. But every single time it's gotten hard, we've chosen each other and figured it out anyway. That's not luck. That's us.

You make an ordinary Tuesday feel like something worth looking forward to. You make a state's worth of distance feel small. And on the days I miss you the most, I remind myself that this is temporary — but what we're building isn't.

So today, of all days, I just want you to know: you are loved, you are missed, and you are so deeply appreciated. Thank you for staying, for calling, for being patient with the distance, and for being mine.