This story begins where many others have... discussing the long-standing and disillusioned sense of teenage honor within the halls of Antebellum academia. That is to say, Cassie and James first met in "Craft of the Historian" taught by Dr. Adam Pratt in St. Thomas Hall 308 in the spring semester of 2018. The goal of the class was to work with history majors to discover their voice while writing and reading, and develop a deeper understanding of historical context surrounding the main concepts of historiography. Luckily for James, and unluckily for Cassie, the books selected to read that semester were topics surrounding the Civil War- "Halls of Honor: College Men in the Old South", "Plain Folk and Gentry in a Slave Society," and "Slave Patrols" to name a few. James and Cassie may not have become close during this time, but the atmosphere in which they met was significant to the future of their relationship- in how they analyze the world, consider all context, and move through it together.

What Cassie and James both look to as their first official meeting in which their friendship kicked off was on a university trip to study the history of the Navajo Culture in Arizona for a week in August of 2018. Outside of Window Rock, the Navajo Capital, in a sage field covered with low-lying desert brush, where 13 various species of venomous snakes could have been under every footstep, Dr. David Dzurec (Triple D, now Dean Dr. David Dzurec, Quad D) approached both James and Cassie separately to say they may have a few things in common, and a mutual dislike for know-it-all history majors. So, in the brush field in the shadow of ancient Anasazi Puebloan ruins, Cassie and James approached each other to discuss the ridiculousness of a few other history students, and the lack of safeness of not watching where we were stepping. The two stuck together for the rest of the trip, through Window Rock and the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and Sedona, memories were made and a friendship was forever formed.

Cassie often loves to bring up how James somehow saved her life in the Grand Canyon on August 18. While hiking on the "Bright Angel Trail" Cassie, James, Casey Welby (bridesmaid), and friends Michelle and Julia all headed down the trail, without looking back up as they did. The group went 3.5 miles down the canyon, then, turned around to see a steep wall rising up to the sky that covered the sun, and everyone realized the error of their ways. As the hike back up started, there were literally hundreds of other people sweating, panting, shaking, as they climbed up. Michelle at one point said "Go on without me, let me sit here and die." James saw a pretty fat rattlesnake in the brush and got a third wind to start running away for a while. Barely halfway up the wall, Cassie said she felt like she was going to pass out without any water, and the others agreed. James then remembered, that he was wearing his backpack, that not only held half his belongings for the trip, which he decided to hike with for some reason, but also had 10 bottles of water in there. Now hydrated, everyone continued to the rim of the canyon, Julia and Casey went forward together, as Cassie and James moved upward with Michelle, then, once at the top, Michelle laid down in the parking lot as James and Cassie went to the gift shop. James did not really think anything of the water, but Cassie brings it up once in a while that it was significant enough to be remembered, and the conversation always brings them back to the first memorable days of their friendship in Arizona.

The fall 2018 semester consisted of a lot of time forging a friendship on the first floor of the library and in the halls of St. Thomas, but the tipping point turned out to be another travel course- this time to London. Cassie, Casey, James, and Michelle all said in Arizona they would love to be on the next university trip to London, and Dr. Dzurec made it happen in March of 2019 (along with Dr. Pratt). Days were spent walking the corridors of castles, strolling the Strand, running a 5k, and taking in all the city had to offer.

Cassie and James ended up having their first date in London-unknowingly. Cassie had wanted to go to "The Cheese Bar" at the Camden Stables the whole of the trip, and on March 11 with some free time in the evening, James and Cassie took the black line on the Underground to the Camden town stop. Some time was spent wandering the stables at Camden that evening and then mozzarella sticks, pesto grilled cheeses, and cheese samples were had. After dinner, Cassie and James walked along the ancient walls in Camden arm-in-arm looking at the markets, shops, historical markers, and staring at the sky. For being in the middle of a city, the sky was clear and the stars were bright, though it was knowingly the same sky they've seen thousands of nights, it truly felt different being in Camden that evening. On the walk late that evening to the bar that became a near nightly haunt during the trip- the "Coal Hole", Cassie and James looked at each other and said "Was this a date?" before opening the doors to the 150+ year old pub to meet the rest of the group.

London was another fantastic trip making unforgettable memories with amazing friends, but was uniquely different from Arizona in nearly every way. Cassie and James's friendship grew into the early stages of a true lasting relationship, that would fully form just weeks later.

Between London and April 10, a lot of nights were had in the library, conversations in the halls, and friends asking James when he was going to ask Cassie out already. James and Cassie spent nearly every moment on campus together, which lead to many people waiting for something to happen finally- professors got involved, campus staff were asking, Cassie's roommates, Anna and Laura (bridesmaids) would corner him and ask what his deal was, and Associate Dean Harry Dammer told James one day, "What are you waiting for? You can't do any better than that!" showing his normal sense of sarcasm with a touch of sincerity. On April 8th, after an induction ceremony to the history honors society of Phi Alpha Theta, of which Michelle and Casey were also inducted, Cassie and James had a long conversation about what their future may be with Cassie about to graduate and James still having a year of school left. But then finally, on April 10th at 10:48pm, James and Cassie decided to make their relationship official.

Since April 10, 2019, Cassie and James have endured historical years together- a global pandemic, new jobs, graduations, loss of loved ones, new friends, new communities, new careers, new presidencies, a lot of trips to Gettysburg, thousands of hours of sewing, hours of road trips, dozens of reenactments, and expansion of taste pallets. Then, in a typical James fashion of waiting and waiting until everyone asked, he finally proposed nearly 1,700 days after their relationship first began at Longwood Gardens on December 3rd, 2023 with both sets of parents present, and many others in spirit.

James and Cassie have learned their strengths through their families and each other- always to support and stand next to one another no matter that they encounter. They make each other better every day and continue to grow together and experience all that life has to throw at them, facing it all head-on and hand-in-hand. Everyone knew the couple would end up together, as clear as the sky on a night over Camden, which has finally lead them to 10.11.2025.