May 14th, 2022

(Colleen's POV)

I was preparing for my first shift as a box office attendant at Bright Box Theatre in Winchester, VA, a 2 minute walk from my apartment. Michael was preparing to attend a concert at a venue 30 minutes from his house, coincidentally also Bright Box Theatre.

An hour before the show started, the doors were just about to open and a line of about 5 people was formed in front of my makeshift desk. As I was checking IDs I noted that the guy in front of me (an extremely tall guy with a beard and a ball cap) was really cute. We chatted and I instantly felt comfortable with this stranger (he later admitted that he felt the same).

Soon the concert started and the sounds of The Four Horseman: A Metallica Tribute Band filtered through the doors and out to where I was still sitting, waiting for stragglers to check-in for the show. Throughout the night Michael came out to chat with me and I started to want to ask for this cute guy's number. I had never asked someone for their number before and I was crazy nervous.

When my boss said I could head home, I was disappointed and didn't want to leave without getting this guy's info. So I got a drink at the bar and waited at a table for him to eventually come out, even if I had to wait hours. Luckily it was only about 20 minutes and the first thing he said to me was "I thought you would have gone home by now!" I made up some excuse about how they offered me a free drink for my first night and I couldn't possibly turn it down so I had to stay (emphasizing how it totally wasn't just for him). We chatted some more before he said "Well, I've gotta work in the morning so I should go home. My phone died so add me on Facebook, the name is Michael Shoemaker." I quickly said (in the smoothest move I have ever made in my life) "Well my phone's not dead. Can I have your number?"

The rest is history.

May 14th, 2022

(Michael's POV)

How I met Colleen is a very weird story for me. Because a lot of things had to happen in perfect order for us to finally meet, almost like it was fate. I will start by stating, that I have a tremendous amount of social anxiety. One of my groomsmen, Tim Jewell, gave me some advice a long time ago that he probably forgot he told me. "If you just do things you like to do, eventually you'll find people who like to do them as well." So one day I decided I would go to a music show. Music is a big part of who I am, also for Colleen and one of our things we have in common. I am a big listener of heavy metal or hard rock music. I grew up listening to Metallica with my mom. I had seen that there was a tribute band playing in Winchester and wanted to go, but felt too anxious to go alone. I asked my best friend Matt to go with me, but he couldn't go.

Next I asked my other best friend Mike. Mike had told me he could go. A week or so before the show, Mike told me that something had come up and would not be able to go. I really wanted to go to this show, so I forced myself to buy the ticket even though it gave me a lot of anxiety. I knew that if I just went I would not regret it, I had no idea how right I would end up being. I barely ever go to Winchester, way to fancy for me, and it took awhile but I eventually found the venue and headed inside. There was already a pretty big line inside but because I was so tall, I was able to see the cute receptionist up front taking tickets. Already feeling a huge amount of anxiety just being in public, it was doubled knowing I had to get through this simple social interaction.

When I approached the ticket booth to show my ticket, The receptionist said hello. My anxiety immediately disappeared and without realizing it, I was talking to this stranger like I had known her for years. To say I was comfortable immediately would be an understatement. It felt like coming home.

I learned her name was Colleen and she was in Winchester going to college for music. So we talked about music for awhile and when the show started I headed inside. After the show I walked out into the bar area and found Colleen sitting there at a table. I had absolutely no idea why she had been sitting there, I didn't learn it was because she was waiting for me until a couple months later. We talked again and my phone had died during the show. So my overstimulated brain simply thought, "my phone died, so I don't have a phone right now." so I told her to just look me up on Facebook. She wisely knew phones still existed even though they were dead, so she asked for my number. We talked a bit more and departed with plans for a future date.

Thank you so much for your kind gift! We can't wait to see you and celebrate with you!