Elisha's Perspective: I had just moved into my Cherry Street house where I was starting grad school amidst a global pandemic when I was contacted by a local school to be a long-term English Substitute. Being a recent and current college grad, I jumped at the opportunity. On day 1, I met Kyle...but ran in the opposite direction. We were supposed to have a homeroom together, but he had a student teacher at the time, and I was intimidated by the tall man who walked right up and said "Hey I'm Kyle!". After running from him, I quickly realized he was not someone I should be afraid of. We shared lunch with a handful of co-workers and that was where I got to get to know him best. It was through our lunch time conversations that we had a shared interest, the Buffalo Bills...Okay I may have lied about being a Bills fan (at the time) to sound interesting to him, but this was how we found a real shared interest, sponge candy! It got brought up in lunch one day, and I happened to be going home for the weekend. On that trip home I went to Watson's and got a box of sponge candy "for the whole team". Monday afternoon, I told him he could keep the rest of the sponge candy, and that was that. Shortly after he began messaging me, and in October he asked me out. Unfortunately I was busy the weekend he asked me out so I said no, but thankfully he didn't give up and asked me out again. On November 11 we had our first "date" which was at his house due to social distancing rules still being in place. We decorated his Christmas Village and watched Elf while also talking and getting to know each other.

When we began dating we both agreed to take things slow. Our schedules didn't always align. I had evening classes, and he had Kennedy early on in the week and every other weekend. Some weeks the most time we spent together was at school, but no one knew we were dating. Eventually class schedules shifted and we were able to start spending more time together. The summer of 2021, I got hired for my first full-time teaching job and I was ecstatic! Honestly, I would not have that job today if Kyle had not encouraged me to apply, even though I had accepted a previous job offer. Kyle (and my mom) quickly began helping me look for apartments near or in Canandaigua. After finding one, I was excited to see it was only 10 minutes from Kyle's house. That same summer I met Kennedy and got to see a totally new side of Kyle. Watching him be an incredible dad was more confirmation that he was the guy I wanted to spend forever with.

At the end of that summer we went to a friend's wedding, and I remember telling Kyle while we danced that I could see myself marrying him. The next school year began and our relationship started getting more serious. After a health scare on his end in April of 2022, I moved in.

Throughout the last 3 years we have been through a lot. We have learned how to navigate new relationships, work together as a team, connect with Kennedy and create a new dynamic, welcome a fur baby, and throughout it all- trust in each other and support each other through all the good times and hardships. I can't wait to spend forever with Kyle.

Also a shoutout to Willa for being born and aligning the stars that crossed our paths!

Kyle's Perspective:

Starting a new school year is always exciting. The cyclical nature of teaching always makes September feel like a special time. However, the fall of 2020 had a more nervous feeling. School was reopening after shutting down for the pandemic. We hadn’t talked to people in person in months and getting to know people without seeing their faces seemed like a challenging way to connect with students. With all of these weird changes going on at work, a new coworker was assigned to work with me through opening day activities. However, when I introduced myself to Elisha, she promptly turned around and walked away leaving me wondering if it was possible to smell bad breath through a mask? As the days turned into weeks, I got to know Ellie through the one time of the day we could take our masks off, lunch. I really enjoyed hearing her talk about horses with another coworker who also rides. And as the weeks passed I started to look forward to lunches with Elisha. Then we shared a moment that changed how I felt about Ellie.

Every Halloween, I hang 95 Reese’s on my classroom door (it’s a history joke) and that year I needed some help setting up the display. Ellie offered to help me, and as we started to assemble, I started to feel some electricity. It was in that moment that I knew I wanted to ask her out. After working up some courage to ask out a coworker and receiving a humbling rejection, I gave it another try. We took things slow, working around our schedules. Slowly building trust and love, eventually sharing our relationship with friends and family. We decided to share our relationship with my daughter Kennedy with a memorable trip to the State Fair. when I found myself having to deal with a major health scare, it was Ellie that without hesitation, stayed by my side. Now we are at each other’s side watching Bills game from section 142 and encouraging and supporting each other.