He would try again whenever he saw me, but I would still refuse. I didn’t know what he saw in me, and honestly, I wasn’t interested in getting to know him at that time. If anything, I seemed to enjoy making it difficult for him.

Then came one special night at our school.

It was Valentine’s night, or perhaps just one of those school party nights filled with music, laughter, and dancing. Everyone was enjoying the celebration, making memories, and spending time with friends.

And then he approached me again.

This time, instead of asking for my number first, he asked me to dance.

I agreed to dance with him, and somewhere between the music and that moment, he tried his luck again. He asked for my number one more time.

And, as usual, I didn’t give it to him.

I guess I wasn’t ready to let him into my little world just yet.

But what I didn’t know was that he wasn’t quite ready to give up.

The very next day, my phone received a text message.

“Hi beautiful.”

I looked at the message, wondering who could possibly be texting me.

So I replied:

“Who’s this?”

He finally revealed who he was.

I was surprised, of course. But there was one question I wanted answered.

“Where did you get my number?”

He never really answered that question.

And that became the beginning of our little texting story.

He would send me messages almost every day, trying to start conversations and get to know me. I would reply only occasionally. Sometimes I would pretend that I didn’t have enough phone credit to continue texting.

But he always found a way.

He would load my number so we could keep talking.

Imagine that. While I was pretending not to have load, he was making sure we could continue our conversations.

And the funny part?

The truth was, I simply didn’t want to talk to him.

At least, that’s what I thought at the time.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. The messages continued until one day, he finally stopped.

Maybe he got tired of trying. Maybe he thought I would never give him a chance.

And just like that, the boy who used to find every reason to message me was no longer sending those little notifications to my phone.

But sometimes, the most unexpected things happen when we least expect them.

The Day Everything Changed

It was enrolment time for my third year in college.

I was going about my day, not expecting anything special to happen. It was just another ordinary school day, another enrolment, another moment in my college life.

Until I saw him.

There he was, somewhere around our school campus.

And suddenly, something inside me changed.

I don’t know how to explain it, but it felt as if the entire world had stopped moving for a moment.

It was as though everyone around me had frozen. The wind seemed to play with my hair, and my heart started beating so fast.

The same boy.

The same boy I had rejected countless times.

The same boy whose messages I barely answered.

The same boy I had pretended not to have load for.

The same boy I thought I didn’t like.

But that day, when I saw him again, I felt something I had never felt before.

I realized that I had fallen for him.

Funny, isn’t it?

For months, I had been trying to avoid him. I had ignored his efforts, turned down his requests, and acted as if his presence meant nothing to me.

Yet, in that one unexpected moment, I found myself missing the very person I had once tried so hard to avoid.

I couldn’t explain what had happened. I only knew that I wanted to talk to him again.

So I did something secretly.

I searched for an old SIM card that I no longer used. I wasn’t even sure if his number would still be there, but I decided to check.

And there it was.

His number.

Still saved.

I stared at it for a moment, probably wondering whether I should send a message or not.

Then, gathering a little courage, I finally sent him a text.

“Hi, how are you?”

Four simple words.

But little did I know that those four words would open the door to the rest of my life.

That was where everything truly began.

Six Months of Courtship

After that unexpected message, he started courting me.

This time, things were different.

He was no longer just the boy trying to get my number around the campus. He was becoming someone I wanted to hear from, someone whose messages I waited for, and someone whose presence made my days a little brighter.

He courted me for six months before I finally said yes.

Six months.

And the funny thing was, I had already fallen in love with him even before I officially accepted his feelings.

There was even someone else courting me during that time. But when it came to choosing who would have my heart, he was the one.

Maybe it was because of the way he pursued me. Maybe it was because of all the little things he did. Or maybe, deep down, my heart had already made its decision long before I said the words.

Then came the day that would forever be written in our story.

October 26, 2012.

The day I finally said yes.

From that day on, we were no longer just two college students who happened to know each other.

We became two people choosing to share a journey.

We started creating memories, learning about each other, growing together, and discovering what it meant to love someone.

We didn’t know everything that life had prepared for us. We didn’t know all the challenges, changes, responsibilities, and beautiful surprises waiting ahead.

We were simply two young people in love, holding on to the hope that what we had would last.

And somehow, it did.

From Boyfriend and Girlfriend to Husband and Wife

Four years after I finally said yes, our love brought us to another unforgettable day.

December 4, 2016.

The day we got married.

The boy who once kept asking for my number became the man who stood beside me as my husband.

Think about that for a moment.

The boy I used to reject became the man I promised to spend my life with.

The boy whose messages I once ignored became the person I would share my mornings, evenings, dreams, plans, and future with.

The boy who once tried so hard just to get my attention became my forever person.

Our wedding wasn’t simply the beginning of a marriage. It was the continuation of a love story that had started years before, back when we were still students, walking around the same campus without knowing what the future held for us.

And now, we were building a life together.

A New Chapter: Becoming Parents

Just a month after our wedding, in January 2017, we received another beautiful blessing.

I became pregnant.

Suddenly, our story was no longer just about the two of us. There was a little life growing, a little person who would soon become the most precious part of our world.

We were about to discover a different kind of love.

The kind of love that makes you stronger, more responsible, and more willing to sacrifice. The kind that teaches you that happiness is no longer just about yourself, but about the little family you are creating.

And on September 17, 2018, our world became even more beautiful.

Our child arrived.

The person who once asked me for my phone number was now the father of my child.

The two college students who once had no idea what their future would look like were now parents, learning together how to raise a little human being and build a family.

From two people who once crossed paths on a school campus, we had become a family of our own.

And what a beautiful journey that was.

Ten Years of Marriage, and Still Choosing Each Other

Years passed.

We grew older. We experienced different seasons of life. We changed from the young college students we once were into the people we are today.

Marriage taught us that love is more than the butterflies we felt at the beginning. It is more than romantic messages, sweet words, dates, and beautiful pictures.

Love is also in the ordinary days.

It is in choosing each other even when life gets difficult. It is in understanding one another, forgiving, being patient, laughing together, and finding reasons to hold on.

It is in building a home, raising a child, sharing responsibilities, and continuing to dream together.

There will always be days when life isn’t perfect. No marriage is a fairytale every single day. But the beauty of a lasting relationship is that two people continue to write their story, even when the chapters aren’t always easy.

And here we are.

The girl who once said no.

The boy who never knew that the girl he kept approaching would one day become his wife.

The two people who started with a simple text message.

The two people who eventually said yes to forever.

And now, in December 2026, we are preparing to celebrate something truly special.

Our renewal of vows.

Ten years of marriage.

December 2026: Saying Yes All Over Again

As we prepare to renew our vows, I can’t help but look back at where everything started.

Who would have thought?

If someone had told me back in college that the boy I kept rejecting would someday become my husband, I probably wouldn’t have believed them.

If someone had told me that the boy whose messages I barely answered would become the person I would build a family with, I might have laughed.

And if someone had told me that one day I would stand beside him again, ten years into our marriage, ready to promise him my love all over again, I would never have imagined how beautiful that journey would be.

But here we are.

Ten years of marriage.

Fourteen years since I finally said yes to him in October 2012.

One beautiful child who reminds us every day of the love we created together.

And countless memories that no amount of time could ever erase.

This time, when I look into his eyes and renew my vows, I won’t just be looking at the man I married ten years ago.

I’ll be looking at the boy who once asked for my number, the young man who patiently courted me for six months, the husband who built a life with me, and the father of our child.

I’ll be looking at every version of him that I have loved throughout the years.

And I hope he sees every version of me, too.

The girl he first noticed in college. The girl who eventually fell in love with him. The woman who became his wife. The mother of his child. And the woman who, after everything, is still standing beside him, ready to choose him again.

Because if I were given another chance to go back to that college campus, knowing everything I know today, I would still want our paths to cross.

Maybe I would even give him my number sooner this time.

Although, knowing our story, perhaps I would still make him work for it a little.

Because that’s how our love story began.

With a boy who wouldn’t give up, a girl who kept saying no, and a love that neither of them knew would become forever.

And after all these years, my answer is still the same as the day I finally said yes.

Yes to you. Yes to us. Yes to this family. And yes to spending the rest of my life loving you.

Happy ten years of marriage to us.

And to the boy who once texted me “Hi beautiful”…

You still are the one I want to receive a message from every day.

You were my unexpected beginning, my answered prayer, my favorite chapter, and my forever love.

I said yes to you in 2012. I married you in 2016. And in 2026, I will proudly say yes to you all over again.

Our story started with a simple hello. But it will never have an ending.