Our story began just like all great love stories…with us walking down the aisle together. It was July of 2020, and I was very excited for my sister Gabrielle’s wedding. I knew ahead of time that I was paired up with the cute bridesmaid who was my age, but I wasn’t expecting butterflies and sweaty palms immediately as she walked in for the rehearsal. I cast a bashful glance in her direction. We made eye contact. I promptly looked away. Ten minutes and about as many glances later, we were forced to line up together to rehearse the procession. She took the initiative and casually remarked, “Hey! Our siblings are getting married. Pretty crazy.” My mind went blank, and I dealt with my overwhelming feelings by… looking away. Yep, not only had I blown my shot, but she probably also thought I disliked her. I consoled myself with the thought that it was probably for the best because I was supposed to go to seminary.

Fast forward one day, and she was looking absolutely stunning as she took my arm and we prepared to walk down the aisle. This was what we had rehearsed for, but I had rehearsed something more. The plan was to cooly comment, “You look beautiful,” as we started walking down the aisle. Instead, I narrowly avoided a voice crack as I nervously blurted, “You look REALLY good,” and then tried to walk calmly as my heart beat out of my chest. Nailed it.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to follow up my smooth compliment with a conversation, and Emma flew back home. Life took me to Ave Maria University, and it took her far away to Benedictine College. Every now and then during the breaks I would hear from Gabrielle and her husband Michael about how the Gieger family was doing, and I always found myself perking up and listening when Emma’s name was mentioned. But no, she was a thing of the past.

Then came August of 2022. It was Ave’s orientation week, and Mom and I were helping my younger sister Olivia to move in. Outside of the dorms we ran into Mrs. Gieger and Emma. I said hi to Mrs. Gieger and then stood there awkwardly as she explained to my mom that Emma had transferred from Benedictine. I couldn’t even work up the courage to say hi to Emma, and both parties moved on. She definitely thought I disliked her now.

Even though Ave is a small school, I only saw Emma a couple of times over the next several months. In the middle of November though, we both attended some mutual friends’ speed dating event. I went through an hour of speed dating just to get two minutes with Emma, so I needed to bring my “A” game. I had two minutes to be memorable, and I knew just what to do. After the usual formalities of a speed date, I pointed up at the night sky and said, “Do you see that little cluster of stars near Orion? I noticed it while stargazing once, and I think it looks like one of the dippers, just smaller. There’s already a Big Dipper and a Little Dipper, so I decided to name this one the Skinny Dipper.” Judging by her surprised laughter, I was most definitely memorable. Those two minutes were up, but through a lucky mix-up and a strategic blonde moment, I ended up at her table for a second date. This time I made a bet with her about our next speed date, and we agreed to follow up on how it went.

Our “follow-up” the next day turned into a three-hour conversation, which led to several more long conversations and two official, regular-speed dates. For our third date, we went to the special Christmas lights event at the Naples Botanical Gardens and began our relationship together as an official couple. Just over thirteen months later on January 12th, I brought Emma again to some beautiful gardens behind an inn near Naples, and there we agreed that we should bring the same two groups of people back together after four years for another wedding. There will be a big difference though. This time I’ll actually say something to her at the ceremony.