A love story usually begins when two people meet. For us, that would be a Christmas long ago when I was a chubby toddler and Adrianne was a baby. We don’t remember this first meeting, but we have adorable pictures to prove it happened. Though our parents were good friends, we lived at opposite ends of the country and we did not see each other again until three years later when Adrianne’s family moved to Washington. Every couple months our families spent a weekend together. There were four of us kids and we spent those weekends playing blind man’s bluff, sardines, hide and seek, and grounders, or Mao and Camps if it was raining out. We went on hikes and explored the rocky Washington beaches. In the evenings we ate delicious homemade food and put on our favorite records with our parents, and listened to their theological discussions, joining in as we grew older.



You could say we were each other’s first crushes, but when I was fifteen my family moved to Wisconsin and the feelings faded with time and distance. When Adrianne moved to the area four years later, we went out for lunch hoping to rekindle the old flame, but it seemed the spark had died.



It wasn’t until my 21st birthday in summer of 2022, nearly a year after Adrianne and her family had come to Wisconsin, that the childhood crush began to turn into something more. I was visiting home for a birthday celebration with my family, and Adrianne came over. That day I realized there really was something between us that could turn into a deep and lasting love. She seemed happy to be near me and having her around felt like home.



Just two months after my birthday we began dating and as our relationship grew, we knew this would be more than a mere infatuation. We bonded over music, as Adrianne had always sung beautifully and I played piano and cello. After the winter, we began talking about spending the rest of our lives together. I worked over the summer at a new job and saved money for a ring, and proposed to Adrianne on September 16th, 2023. I’ve never seen her say yes to anything as fast as she did that day.



Blessed by the support of family, friends, and our Catholic community, we look forward to taking our next steps in life together but not alone, and hope to bring joy not just to each other but to everyone around us. We thank God each day for all the growth and blessings we have experienced thus far, and ask him for strength, wisdom, and peace as we enter this new phase of our lives and, Lord willing, start a family together.