The commitment is eternal, the love is immortal and above all, the sacrifices tightens the bond which makes it all worth living.

Those were the words Linda Sanday Bavadra used to describe her love story with the love of her life Apisai Bavadra.

The duo who met while in Law School at the University of the South Pacific (USP) has never regretted the decision they took up to commit to each other’s lives and begin a family for their own.

Linda Bavadra who is now a lawyer by profession shared some unforgettable memories of how she first met her husband Apisai Bavadra during a class at USP.

“I remembered the first time I saw Apisai, he was sitting at the back of our tutorial class and we had to do a presentation in groups,” Mrs Bavadra said.

“He stood up to present from his group and I told myself, hmmm that is a cute Fijian guy,” she laughingly said.

“Later on, we had to work on our assignments and I remember seeing him daylighting in school and that is where I figured that he was a hardworking guy.

“He also made everyone laugh and was very charismatic.” Mrs Bavadra added.

For Apisai it was quite a similar story, he would tell his friends that he would date Linda one day even before getting to know her, but it would always end up with a good laugh by his mates.

“When I first saw Linda, I knew I was looking at the whole package, not only was she beautiful she was intelligent and hardworking too,” Mr Bavadra said.

“I remember like it was yesterday, four of my close friends and I were day-lighting for an assignment when I looked at Linda, two tables away from me and said one day not far from now, I am going to date that girl,” he said.

“The laughter at our tables broke the silence at green tables that early morning followed by one of my friends saying look at her and look at you but I told them, wait and see.

“Don’t get me wrong, I did not do it for the challenge but I asked her out because I fell in love with every part of her.”

Mr Bavadra said he had asked Linda out and waited for three weeks until she got a response from her.

“After waiting for three weeks, she finally said okay, yes, let’s give this a try.”

Mrs Bavadra said a year and a month down the line she was pregnant and they were both committed to the idea of getting married.

“I am grateful to God for Apisai, we talked about getting married and we reminded ourselves that we were a team and we needed to work together,”

“I remained in law school but he willingly gave up the programme to work and support the family we had established,

“He would work hard to buy me whatever I craved for and to feed me whenever I was hungry.

“I was heavily pregnant few months down the line and went up a few dress sizes but this man would hold my hand proudly and walk with me around campus because he knew how I was feeling.

“I felt safe and secure with him by side and it gave me the drive to push on.

“My parents would be worried (and sometimes get upset with me) because I was heavily pregnant and stay up all night in school to study for my finals.

“Apisai would be there all night by my side, making my milo, making sure I was warm and would massage my swollen feet, we would remind each other that we got this.

Mrs Bavadra said she sat for her second-year final exams a week before her due date and still managed to pass all her units.

We made God the foundation of our marriage and acknowledged him in everything we did.

“We went through some very difficult times but we would always sit a s a family, pray, strategise and remind ourselves of our roles.

“Despite what little we had when we started off there was always so much love in the house.

“Every year Apisai and I set a goal and we walk towards achieving it.

“Last year I obtained my Law Degree from USP and I recently on February 1 this year I was admitted to the Bar as a Lawyer.

“Apisai already has a Diploma in IT from FNU, he went to India and completed a 3-month training on Management Development Programme on Programming, Logistics Control & Industrial

Automation at the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation in Chandigarh and is now on his final months of completing his Advance Diploma in PLC and Industrial Automation from the Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) in Perth Australia.

“Now, that’s my man.” Linda and Apisai Bavadra have been married for six years and have a beautiful 5-year-old daughter Deborah Shakainah Mary Bavdara.