*told in first-person by Nick*

I vividly remember the first time I met Caroline. She was on campus filming a video for our church with my friend Tyler, and I happened to run into them as I was walking out of a sing chair meeting with my other friend, Jonathan. I walked up to Tyler to say hey, and he introduced me to this girl, Caroline. I had heard her name before and had seen her around on social media, but this was the first time I got to meet her in person. It was a very brief interaction, but I thought she was super cute and I was instantly interested in getting to know her better.

I kept living the college life, and Caroline started to pop up in just about everything I was doing. We had a friend group formed around Harris Creek, and every time we hung out as a group, I grew more and more excited to see Caroline and to talk to her more. Right before Caroline and I went to work at different summer camps in 2021, we had a long chat at a friend group lunch about our summers. I told her I would write to her while I was away (I didn’t. But it was the thought that counted!). I began to see this friend of mine become more and more of a crush every time I saw her. I saw quickly that she was a beautiful, sharp, and compassionate woman that I was instantly very comfortable around. At this point in college, I had kind of given up on the idea of dating and decided to just live life as if I wasn’t going to date until college was done. However, I couldn’t seem to get this Caroline girl out of my mind!

Flash forward to after the summer, my friend Jonathan from earlier in the story cornered me in my car and said, Bro, this is gonna sound a little random, but I think you need to think about dating Caroline Crocker. I said, Oh, really? I hadnt thought about that before! (I was lying.). I later came to learn that Caroline had also been cornered by Jonathan’s future wife, Clara, to think about dating me. It was a set-up. And I wasn’t mad about it! A couple days later, I got a text during class from Caroline asking me to be her date to her sorority semi-formal. I would be lying if I said my heart didn’t skip a beat. I prayed about it and came to the conclusion: if the semi-formal goes well, I was going to ask this girl on a date.

We went to semi-formal and it went better than I could have imagined. Not only did I have an absolute blast, I got to see the heart of Caroline that I have since grown familiar with. I saw that she is as genuine as it gets, and in a greek life system that was so easy to navigate with shallow relationships, she went against the grain and found depth with so many people. It was beyond anything I had ever seen, and I was smitten. This was the moment that Caroline grew from a crush to a girl that I knew was special.

When we left the event, I strategically hid her pack of leftover Dr. Peppers from the dance in the back of my car so I would have a reason to see her again soon. I texted her later that week telling her I have her sodas and that I would love to bring them to her. I nervously drove to her house and she walked out in her scrubs, ready for a small-talk conversation. I handed them to her and, to her surprise, asked her on a date. She said yes, and a week later we went on our first date to Portofino’s and the Dichotomy rooftop.

The first date went really well, we enjoyed the time together and talked for a really long time. Neither of us had dated someone new in a very long time, so we both felt pretty rusty. I was suuuuuuper nervous any time I was around her. I got so in my head, I knew I had found a special girl and I really didn’t want to mess it up! At the same time, I could tell that Caroline wasn’t as romantically into me as I was into her. I later learned that she was going through A LOT that I didn’t know about during this time, and even now I’m impressed that she was able to show me the attention that she did given the circumstances.

We went on a couple more dates, but after about a month and a half of going on dates, she decided to call it off. I was really sad about it, but I understood and did what I could to move on. We stopped contact for a couple of months as we both took time to iron things out on our own, but there wasn’t a day that she left my mind.

We went into Christmas break of senior year, and towards the end of the break, I heard that Caroline had done something incredibly kind for my sister. She had written a recommendation letter for my sister, Bekah, which gave Bekah a significant advantage getting into a sorority during recruitment week. Caroline had no intention of me knowing this, but she did it to help her. This got me thinking. I had healed enough from the previous events and I really wanted to thank Caroline for doing that for Bekah. So I reached out to Caroline for the first time in two months and thanked her for helping Bekah. She responded saying, Oh of course! I love Bekah, it was a no-brainer. Also, I miss talking to you! How are you doing? I responded, and for about three weeks, we began texting pretty much all day every day.

I was really enjoying talking to Caroline again, I had missed her so much. But, I was also trying to guard my heart to make sure I didn’t grow feelings again (Haha, that didn’t work!). This time also felt a lot different. It really seemed that Caroline was starting to like me too. She ended up later asking to meet me for coffee. I was excited to hopefully get some clarity on what was happening. We ended up talking for three hours (!!!) at Pinewood just catching up and enjoying each others presence. I was about to leave for sing rehearsal and she stopped me. She said, Hey, this may be confusing and I get it, but I want you to know that I really like you. I haven’t been able to get you out of my mind, and I would love for you to consider giving this another shot.

I was taken aback. My heart did a backflip. It took everything in me not to say yes on the spot! I thanked her for her honesty and told her that I would get back to her. I got with my community and prayed about it, and after a couple more clarification conversations with her, I let her know that I had never stopped liking her and that I would be honored to give it another shot.

After a couple more dates, I asked her to be my girlfriend on February 13, 2022 (Super Bowl Sunday). We were both terrified of the newness of it. A new relationship during the last three months of college was a bit weird and didn’t match up with the goodbyes we were saying to a lot of things in that season. We were both afraid of being hurt and of hurting each other. However, on that night, I looked Caroline in the eyes and told her that we were a team. I told her that as long as we were together, we were going to be teammates through it all and that neither of us needed to feel alone through any of it. This team phrase became our anthem, the phrase that we would continually lean on in the highs and lows of our relationship.

We dated in proximity during our last months of college, and the I like yous grew deeper and deeper into I love yous as we fell in love with each other more and more. She showed me how to love the way that Christ loves me, and I quickly knew that I never wanted this Caroline girl to leave my side. She is everything I have ever prayed for in my future wife and I am still falling more and more in love with her every day.

We did long-distance that summer while I worked at camp and she lived in Waco, and then we did another 9 months of long distance while she started grad school in Dallas and I did the Forge in Tyler. Long distance was hard but a blessing in its own as we built the communication skills that are going to pay dividends in our marriage. I ended up moving to Dallas in May of 2023 and we have lived in proximity again ever since.

On September 16th, I brought Caroline to the spot of our first date on the Dichotomy rooftop and asked her to marry me.

Engagement season has been sweeter than either of us could have anticipated, and we just can’t wait to finally call each other husband and wife. This story was long, so thanks for sticking through! I always love bragging on my future bride, so if you want to know some more details of our story, please let me know. :)

We are so excited to celebrate the beginning of our forever with all of you.

Team Hurt Forever!!!