Daniele and I had many mutual friends through the years and our paths had crossed multiple times, but never at the right time. Once the timing lined up for both of us, we began spending more and more time together. It started as play dates for the kids, or at least that is how we framed it. The play dates turned into actual dates with no kids, but we didn't go on the normal kind of dates that a lot of people go on when they are getting to know each other. For us it wasn't dinner dates or meeting at the bar for drinks, we did fun adventurous things like hiking mountains, kayaking in the ocean, skating, jogging and working out. Getting to know Daniele was the most fun I have ever had, and we connected on so many levels. Things were just simple with her, and neither of us had ever known anything about simple when it came to relationships.

A few months after we started getting serious, I had to make one of the hardest decisions of my life. I had to leave California, for several reasons. I wanted to be home on the East Coast with my family and see my children grow up where I grew up, and I knew I could give them a better life in Pennsylvania than I could in California. We had the difficult conversation that needed to be had, she told me she was not interested in a long-distance relationship and if I decided to move that she supported it, but we would be cutting romantic ties. I told her that this was something I was sure about, and I had to go through with it. This woman while broken hearted, helped me pack every piece of clothing, furniture and personal belongings that I owned into a trailer to drive across country and start a new life. We spent every single moment together for the last few weeks that I was there, and she was there to kiss me goodbye and wave to me while I was pulling the truck away for the last time, while both of us were in tears. We still talked every day after I moved, and the more we talked, the more the distance re-ignited the strong bond that we had formed. Shortly after the move we began throwing around ideas about the future and discussing a whole bunch of "what ifs".

Fast forward to Valentine's Day of 2021, she visited the kids and I on the East Coast for the first time and we had a great week together tied to a lot of emotions and another very difficult goodbye. I don't think either of us at this point were certain what the future would bring but we had at least decided to give the very challenging long-distance thing a try. We never went more than six weeks in between seeing each other, while living 3000 miles away. Then in November of 2021, she quit her job, sold almost all of her belongings and moved here with her son. This was the happiest time in my whole life. Our little family of five was finally complete and our new forever story had begun. Every day since then our bond seems to grow stronger, all of our values, morals and goals align. We have found in one another, something that most people only dream of finding. It is genuine, it is real, it is raw, and it is forever. I am so grateful the world brought us together and forced us to never give up on one another, no matter the circumstances.