Danielle and I were only ten when we fell in love as neighbors on Fairhaven Street. Despite my ugly duckling appearance, lack of confidence and a family with three generations of abuse, she loved me. Being with Danielle exposed me to a life I never thought possible.

But three years later, my mother packed me up and moved us 3,000 miles away. We had to escape my father. On my last day with Danielle, I gave her one half of a broken heart pendant necklace and a promise that I would come back for her when I grew up.

I didn’t take my half of the necklace off for seven and a half years, until the day I could finally go back to her. “Destiny Lives on Fairhaven Street” is the story of my life up until that day. My first love was the inspiration that guided me to become the man I am today. I broke my family’s cycles of violence so that she would never have to experience it.

After almost eight years, I was standing outside her front door, the promise kept. For years I was told that what I was doing was crazy, that there was no way she would remember me let alone love me after so long. The only question was, who would be right?