Erin and I first met in the main office of the high school where we both work, me being a school counselor and Erin a chemistry teacher. Naturally, given my stature, enthusiasm, and UNC polo on the first day of school, she thought I was a student enrolling at Wake Forest. Little did she know, but I would be attending a parent/teacher conference with her later that day.

After the conference, I knew I had to get to know her better. I found her on Facebook, slid into her DMs, and scheduled our first date, which almost never happened because Erin was hungover and extremely close to cancelling. I could not be happier that she didn’t.

From that first date on, our relationship pretty much unfolded in typical fashion: spend the weeknights at my apartment in Wake Forest, spend the weekends at Erin’s townhouse in Raleigh (where there are significantly more things things to do), get a dog, buy a house, get engaged, stay engaged for roughly three years, and then get married...

Obviously, our journey has been far from traditional, but I wouldn’t want anyone else by my side as we continue this ride.