A Love Letter To José Carlos Desousa

To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we asked Patch readers to write a love letter to that special someone and let us deliver it. This is Angelica Rivera’s love story about her boyfriend, José Carlos Desousa:

“Where do I start? My boyfriend José Carlos Desousa and I met 11 years ago in Danbury through a mutual friend. From the moment I met him I knew I liked him. I made several approaches towards him by phone calls and talking to him, but he was very shy during that time. I eventually gave up and lost contact with him and moved out of state. While living in Puerto Rico in June of last year, he contacted me through Facebook! At first I didn’t recognize him, but he kept insisting and that’s when I remembered who he was.

He started calling me daily and messaging me -- a lot had changed in all the years I hadn’t heard from him. After four months of dating I decided to take a leap of faith and leave my home and come back to Connecticut. As I waited for him at the airport, he surprised me from a distance and I ran towards him almost knocking him over! It’s been almost nine months, and he’s the most loving, caring, affectionate gentleman I’ve ever met, and I couldn’t see my life without him! He’s accepted all my flaws and my being a single mother, he never once rejected me or my daughter.

He has shown immense support towards my family and me even through the hardest moments. I was out of communication with my family in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria hit for close to a month, and he gave me all the support I needed in that moment. I love him to the moon and back and we have so much more planned for our future.”

--Angelica Rivera

See all Patch love letters here.

For next month's Love In A Small Town feature, we want to know: What place in town will always be a reminder of love for you? Whether it's the park where you had your first kiss or the restaurant where he proposed, email your story to locallove@patch.com for the chance to be featured. Get more details here.