Why I Still Love My High School Sweetheart

I fell in love with my husband when we were young, before life had really asked much of us. Before babies. Before responsibility. Before our bodies, dreams, and identities began to shift in ways we couldn’t have imagined back then.

And somehow, through all of that, I still love my high school sweetheart.

Growing up together means you don’t just age side by side, you evolve. Sometimes slowly, sometimes all at once. You learn who you are as individuals while also learning who you are together. And that kind of growth requires patience, grace, and a willingness to keep choosing each other in new seasons.

One of the biggest changes for me came with motherhood. Becoming a mom changed me in ways I never fully expected: emotionally, mentally, and physically. My body changed. My priorities changed. My sense of self shifted. I wasn’t just me anymore, and learning how to carry all of those identities at once took time.

And he loved me through it.

He loved me while I was learning my new body. While I was exhausted and touched-out and trying to recognize myself again. He loved me while I was becoming a mother and still figuring out how to also be a wife. He gave me space when I needed it and steadiness when I didn’t even know how to ask.

In return, I learned how to love him through his growth too. Through pressure and responsibility and the quiet weight of providing and showing up day after day. We learned that growing together doesn’t mean growing at the same pace, it means staying connected even when one of you is changing faster than the other.

We chose conversations over assumptions. Curiosity over resentment. We learned how to talk honestly about what we needed, what we were struggling with, and how we were changing. Not every conversation was easy, but every one of them mattered.

Loving your high school sweetheart isn’t about holding on to who you used to be. It’s about allowing space for who you’re becoming. It’s about noticing each other again and again and saying, I see you. I’m still here.

Our love looks different than it did when we were younger, and that’s a good thing. It’s deeper now. Steadier. Rooted in shared history and daily choice. Built not just on who we were, but on everything we’ve grown into together.

That’s why I still love my high school sweetheart.