An open letter to the man that I’m going to love next.

To the man I’m gonna love next,

I want to take all the time in the world to know you. I promise to not jump into a relationship with you right away and put a label on what we have in the beginning. I promise to not be so smitten with you that I fall so deep in love with you before I know what is happening.

I want us to be best friends first, bonding over our similarities and learning our differences.

I want to know all of your childhood memories and what made your soul ache. I want to be connected with you, sharing that knowing look even from across the room.

I want us to be partners, both of us committed to us and putting in the effort to make sure our relationship grows in the healthiest way possible. I want us to be the reason that we inspire and encourage each other, making a better version of ourselves.

I promise to love you even in the little things. I don’t want a fairytale romance. I don’t want a love that seemed so dazzling just like the stars in the night skies.

I want a love that is rooted in the mundane and ordinary so that you’re a part of my daily life. I want a love that can thrive under pressure and blossom in the face of obstacles.

I want to fall in love with your mind — brilliantly, constantly telling me the little things that fascinate you. I want to get used to your presence, faithful and consistent. I want to be with you in the realest form — feel you with that warm skin beneath the blanket, hearing the loud pounding of your heart as you stroke my hair, feeling safe in your presence.

I want to be with you through thick and thin.

I promise to give you my best and to love you with all my heart. I promise to do anything to make our relationship last. I promise to never stop trying, even when the circumstances dictate that we should just give up. I promise to never raise the white flag and give up on the first sign of trouble.

I promise I will love you like no others, with every inch of my heart and soul.

For all you can have it, my love.

And I hope you’re the last one that I’m gonna love because I want a forever with you.