Our story began on May 19th, 2018, two days before Daisy’s high school graduation and one week after Alex’s. We had no idea how our lives would be changed by the scholarship event we were attending that day, although Alex was wondering whether he would meet any cute girls there. We flirted all afternoon, but Alex really sealed the deal when he stood up in front of the entire room and engaged in a heated Q&A about education policy. Daisy invited Alex to her school-sanctioned senior party that evening, and Alex happily obliged, leaving the rest of his family to celebrate his scholarship without him back in their hotel room. And as they left the scholarship event, Daisy was so giddy that she forgot to pick up her check for the scholarship itself.

After one month of late-night FaceTimes, Alex decided to switch what university he would attend in the fall, from the University of Southern California to the University of Oklahoma. Conveniently (and not coincidentally), Daisy was already committed to the Crimson & Cream. While Alex contemplated his academic future, Daisy was doing the brave work of convincing her parents to let her drive the 90 minutes to Tulsa to go on dates with Alex. Her mom insisted on giving her a ride to the first one.

Since then, we’ve been Sooners and Tar Heels; we survived a pandemic and moved halfway across the country. Along the way, we have invested in one another’s families, individual aspirations, and shared friendships. And as we have grown up, we have grown in parallel: sometimes in different ways, but always alongside each other. We continue to find new reasons to be excited about each other, to be there for one another and lift each other up. We now look in joyful anticipation at the life in front of us, strengthened and sustained by the sacred vows we will make as husband and wife.