Serendipity - The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

- Oxford Languages

We like to think of our relationship as one that came about in a bit of a serendipitous way. It was 2020, and nothing seemed to be going right for anyone. My tour was canceled and I was sent home to Chattanooga to "wait it out, we'll be back on the road in two weeks hopefully." We all know how that went. Unfortunately for him but thankfully for me, Matt had been temporarily laid off as well. While we had actually reconnected earlier that year , I hadn't gotten my hopes up too much. As someone working odd hours and traveling, I hadn't thought of myself as someone who was appealing to be in a relationship with. We'd gone on one date when I was in town for a wedding, and had agreed to go on another next time I was in town.

Suddenly here I was, in town again for the foreseeable future. I asked Matt if he still wanted to go on that second date, and if he'd want to go sit by the lake with me. He said yes! It was wonderful, and after some sun and laughter we ended up sitting right next to each other, ordering takeout Mexican food and watching a scary movie together. I did not know until much later that Matt was not a fan of them, but that he sat through the whole thing for me. Nobody'd really done that before. And he kept doing it, kept taking me on fun dates, making me laugh, and making me fall in love with him and how I was around him.

Almost 3 years later we're still going on adventures, trying new things, and falling more in love with each other. And every day Matt helps me see the good in the bad, the serendipity in life and all the ways things will work out in the end. We can't wait to share our big day with you, and hope you all remember to find the silver lining in things. It might just be the best discovery you've ever made.