Paul and I both grew up in Plymouth, MN, but we didn't meet until high school. Freshman year, Paul moved into a house in the neighborhood across the street from me. One day a friend and I saw him standing in the cold awaiting the bus. I offered to give him a ride to school and he took me up on it. It was during those 5 minute car rides to school that Paul fell madly in love with me. We both ran cross country and track and shared a love of art, books, and all things teen angst. Our senior year we decided to attend separate colleges, me in Madison and Paul in New York. We had been dating since sophomore year of high school and decided to try long distance.

In college we followed our interests in science and literature. Paul and I got to visit each other about once a semester where we would explore new art museums and continue to search for the best pad thai. During one of my visits to New York, Paul and I spent the morning before my flight home getting matching tattoos. Our junior year of college Paul studied abroad in England and I got to visit over winter break. We traveled to Oxford, London, and Norway.

In August of 2018, I finally completed a lifelong dream to own a pet. Paul and I had both been working in Madison that summer, and I was finally moving in to an apartment that allowed pets. We went with our friend Kyra to go look at some kittens at the local shelter. We instantly fell in love with the tiny little white and tabby one, and when she fell asleep on Paul's lap that sealed the deal. We named her Sunny.

Our senior year of college, Paul and I both applied and were accepted into graduate programs at UW Madison. After we graduated Paul and I moved in to our first apartment together on the west side of Madison, very close to the School of Pharmacy.

After our first year of school ended, Paul and I started talking about what our future might look like now that we had been in the same city for a year. We decided that after seven years of dating and four years of distance we didn't feel like waiting much longer to make it official.

On July 19th, 2020, Paul and I went for a picnic in Hoyt Park, something we did often as the park is a short walk from our apartment. After enjoying our meal of grocery store sushi, canned wine, and dark chocolate sea salt caramels, Paul asked if I wanted to see something. I said sure. He then pulled out a small blue jewelry box, and said "Claudia, will you marry me?".

We have loved each other from across the street, halfway across the country, across an ocean for a year, from the same apartment, and now forever. Our love story would not be complete if we did not acknowledge the love of family and friends that has gotten us to where we are today. Paul and I both feel extremely lucky to be joining amazingly close and loving families.

So thank you for being a part of our story.