I met Garrett in the 7th grade when his family moved to Enterprise and his dad became the head coach at EHS. We did not really become friends until the 9th grade when enrolled in the same history class. In true high school fashion, I developed a crush on Garrett, and eventually, his feelings caught up with mine.

That relationship lasted for one week.

Senior year, our friendship rekindled when Garrett was recruited to be our Stage Manager for the spring musical "The Addams Family". I was playing Wednesday Addams. That same semester, we both found out we had been accepted to Auburn University.

By the end of Freshman year, we were inseparable (but OH SO platonic). Our friend group was solid and we made the absolute best memories. Throughout the rest of college, we remained friends but ultimately settled into different paths.

In our 5th year of college (the victory lap), I was asked to star in a short film that Garrett was editing for his best friend. Over the course of several weeks, Garrett and I spent countless hours writing, filming, and editing the short film. It was at this time that Garrett's feelings for me shifted.

At the end of that semester, I graduated from Auburn and moved to Washington, DC, in March of 2023. We continued to talk almost every day and FaceTime for hours when something major happened. In May of that year, Garrett came to visit, and we realized just how much we missed having each other around. We did not see each other again until August, and by then, we had friends and family members asking if we were ever going to date. My answer was always, "No. He is my best friend!". Well, not for long.

Iron Bowl weekend of 2023 was a weekend to remember. After I sustained a minor injury from a flying glass bottle, Garrett finally made his move, and the rest is history.

We made our relationship official on December 11th, 2023.

We got engaged on May 3rd, 2024.

- Claudia

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