In April of 2018, I (Mike) was a soon-to-be graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington. While my degree was in advertising and public relations, I spent most of my time performing and recording music with my closest friends. Along the way, I met a woman named Grace Minnick who was a year under me at IU and was from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Grace and I played music often, and I regularly saw her posting about her friend, Addison Agen, who was on Season 13 of The Voice. One day, Grace mentioned that Addison would be coming to Bloomington to hang out for the weekend and that we should all hang out.

*Cue the dramatic music* - On April 14th, 2018, Addison and I met in Grace's apartment, playing none-other than "Gravity" by John Mayer haha. At this point, I was well-aware of her recent stint on The Voice, and I specifically tried NOT to ask her about it. I figured she was getting those questions constantly, and I wanted to be a friend first, not a fan. We had a brief but very fun time hanging out that afternoon, but the next day, I got a call/text from Addison asking if I could play a show with her only EIGHT DAYS LATER! Quick turnaround, haha, but I was stoked! I remember her dad sent me the songs and asked me to record myself playing everything and send it to him so he could vet my playing. Honestly, those recordings probably weren't great, but they did the trick. I'll say this one time and then move on - playing the guitar is the reason for *most* of the greatest things in my life. Not all, but most. Onward. I drove to Indy CD & Vinyl on April 22nd to play this show with Addison. I wore a cowboy hat (pictured above - I felt really cool), and she was wearing a letterman jacket. A hilarious, not so unified combo. Before the show (which went well), I recall sitting in the back office of the record store and being in awe as I heard Addison sing in a close, intimate setting.

To expedite the story, we played music together for a year, and each experience drew us closer than the last. We were both in other relationships until early 2019, but those both came to an end, and you know what happens next. As we drove home from the Easter church service on April 21st, 2019, we stopped at a red light, I looked over to Addison, and said, "So, will you be my girlfriend?".

As love does, my life has taken countless turns since Addison and I fell in love, and I wouldn't trade this journey for anything or anyone in the world. Addison, if you're reading this, it's an honor to love you and to be loved by you.