Happy Birthday, Nidhi

For My Nidhi, on Turning 26

Happy Birthday, my love. Twenty-six years of you existing in this world — and a little over three of those years being mine to love — and I still can't believe how lucky I got. Somewhere out of eight billion people, life quietly handed me you, and I've spent every day since trying to deserve it.

I still remember the version of you I fell for, and I love even more the version of you standing here today — the one who gets tired some days, who overthinks late into the night, who tries to be strong for everyone around her even when she's the one who needs someone to be strong for her. You carry so much so quietly, Nidhi. I just wish you'd let someone carry you back sometimes. Let that someone always be me.

You are, and always have been, my favorite kind of miracle.

I've watched you grow in ways that quietly amaze me — through every deadline, every doubt, every day that felt heavier than it should have, you never once let it make you smaller. You just kept becoming more you: more sure of yourself, softer in the right places, fiercer in others. I don't think you give yourself enough credit for how far you've come, so let me say it as many times as it takes — I am so, so proud of you.

Whatever I'm made of, I'm fairly certain a part of it was always meant to belong to you.

There are places we've been together that I can't imagine standing in without you now — every one of them quietly rewritten, your laugh folded into the memory of them forever. You are the softest, most stubborn, most annoyingly right-most-of-the-time person I know, and I wouldn't trade a single argument, a single "nidhi bhai" eye-roll, a single 2am overthinking session with you for anyone easier.

Even on the days I don't say it — you are the last thing on my mind before I sleep, and the first thing I think of when I wake.

Today isn't about how the year went. It's about you. So today, be a little selfish — let yourself be celebrated without guilt, let people spoil you, and let me, just for one day, take care of the tension you usually carry for both of us.

Loving you never felt like falling. It felt like finally landing somewhere that was always meant to be home.

Twenty-six looks good on you already. I don't know exactly what this year will bring — new stress, new joy, probably a few more times you'll threaten to run away from me. but I know I want to be standing next to you for all of it. Every birthday from here, however many there are, I want to be the one lighting the candles.

Happy Birthday, my forever person.
~ Your toxic, tension-giving, endlessly-in-love boyfriend, Dhruv 💕