Him
The name Abigail O’Terry is pretty unforgettable. I heard about her well before we met, and I always thought that if there was anyone in Boston I knew about that I might be interested in courting, she would be one of them. Last spring I made a trip to Boston and PA doing some electrical work. In Boston I had arranged to stay with the Milioni Family who happen to be close friends with Abigail. So I was quite excited when, the day before I got on my flight, Mr. Milioni texted me recommending her and suggesting I keep an eye out for her during my visit. He offered to facilitate us spending some time together. Without betraying too much excitement, I told him I would like to meet her.
Her
I had some vague idea of who Evan was just from hearing about the Followers of the Way church in Minneapolis. I knew the Milioni’s were planning to have him come stay with them and do some work on their stove. It was sort of off-handedly mentioned that I was invited to their house for dinner one day that week. I was not sure if I was going to go, but they began pressing me to come, so then I was suspicious because I couldn’t guess why they would want to me come so badly. I decided to go, mostly to find out why everyone was being so weird and it didn’t take long for me to figure out what was going on, but I enjoyed the evening despite the potential for awkwardness. I needed to get home at a certain time because I had a phone call scheduled with some of my siblings, but there were no cars or drivers available, except for Evan of course. On the drive to my house, I promptly ran out of things to say, and was grateful for his ability to fill the silence.
Him
The evening when Abigail was supposed to join us for dinner came. I was finishing the electrical project and starting to get pretty nervous. I asked Mr. Milioni If he had talked to Abigail about me and he said he hadn’t, which made me feel more at ease. Obviously I didn’t know quite the whole story! I got cleaned up and entered the room anticipating the moment we would meet. It sounds trite to say it like this, but it truly was one of those ‘You’ll know it when you know it’ moments for me. The way she smiled at me when we said hi stole my heart. We had a wonderful evening talking and telling stories together with the family, answering questions like, “What’s something about you we wouldn’t know?” I remember sharing about how I can’t smell and that I’ve been skydiving once and thinking it was so cool that Abigail said she would love to go skydiving sometime.
At some point our hosts were conveniently busy and Abigail needed a ride home. I volunteered of course, and so our first time together by ourselves was a short drive in a rattling work van. I sensed she was a little shy, so I tried not to ask her too many questions and used the time to share more about myself. After all, I thought, she literally doesn’t know me at all. We laughed a lot about this situation later because Abigail knew the Milioni house was full of giggles after we left.
Later that night I confirmed to my host that I was interested and would like to spend more time with Abigail if I could. The next day, he helped me get invited to a dinner that Abigail had planned. I was thrilled, and wanted to contribute to the meal if I could which is something that’s normal for me. How I got her number was something else! I asked my friend for her friend’s number and her friend for her number. I’m usually not this bold, and prefer to confirm that someone is okay with me getting their number before texting them out of the blue. Abigail was a little surprised. She did not have me bring anything but asked if I had any food allergies which I thought was very thoughtful of her.
I can be an enthusiastic researcher if needed, and that evening I wasn’t trying too hard to hide my interest. Her brother was there, and I took the opportunity to learn as much as I could about their family first hand. I also thought the shrimp Alfredo, salad and bread Abigail prepared was fantastic. I was definitely lying awake at night thinking about her and what to do next.
Her
Several weeks prior I had invited a few people to my house for dinner. Someone suggested inviting Evan since he was around and didn’t have anything to do. But I wasn’t about to be the one to invite him. So I was surprised when I received a message from him while I was at work asking about the dinner that night. I was very curious how he had gotten my number, I sure hadn’t given it to him!
He came to the dinner and it was a nice evening, but we didn’t talk at all except for when he thanked me for the dinner. I had told my brother Uriah (who was also there) about Evan and how some people had been scheming to get us to meet, so of course he was extra talkative with him, which was nice for me because I could just eavesdrop on their conversation (haha).
Him
Saturday morning the Milioni family was celebrating Mother’s Day with a brunch. I didn’t know if Abigail would be there, and figured it was maybe a 50% chance she would. I still decided I would meet a friend for coffee about when it began. I was welcome at the brunch, but knew my hosts would be fine if I found something else to do. I remember thinking that if Abigail didn’t come, then it wouldn’t matter if I left, and if she did come, I hoped she would miss me. Turns out the latter is what happened. I left about 10 minutes after she showed up.
I hurried back, though, and was able to have a conversation with her. Again, her smile. And she asked me for the second time what my plans were for the rest of my time in Boston. I know now she was just being thoughtful, but this encouraged me very much and gave me the courage to ask about her work schedule.
That evening we attended the same choir program. As a former music student, it meant a lot to me to be able to geek out about music stuff in a group with her and a few friends.
Her
At this point I didn’t know whether Evan was interested in me or not, or even for sure if the Milioni’s had talked to him about me. Though they were clearly doing their best to get us in the same room as often as possible. They were celebrating mother’s day with a brunch as a family, but they assured me I was welcome to join. Almost immediately after I got there, Evan left to meet up with a friend. I was a little disappointed, to be quite honest, but also a little relieved in a way. He came back later in the afternoon and we had just a little time for small talk before I had to go to work for a few hours. I saw him again briefly in the evening at a choir performance, we didn’t talk, but I was very aware that he was sitting directly behind me.

Him
By Sunday I was sure I wanted to meet with Abigail to express my interest at some point before I left. It was Mother’s Day morning, so I called my mom and got to tell her what was happening. I got Mr. Milioni’s attention at some point and said I wanted to talk, and so over coffee he suggested I ask her if she would like to meet for coffee that morning. I liked this idea very much, and texted her soon after, waiting for her reply.
Her
I didn’t really think Evan was interested in me, and I thought he would leave on Monday and we would never see each other again.
Imagine my surprise when I got a message that said, “Hey, would you like grab coffee this morning?” After I picked my jaw up off the floor and walked in circles aimlessly until I stopped shaking, I sent a couple panicked voice messages to my parents and then replied: ’Sure’
I was glad to have had a few days to think about the possibility of something happening with him, instead of just getting such a message out of the blue. But I was still thoroughly nervous when he came to pick me up. We had a nice time, talking mostly about our families, the past few years, and some of our interests. I wasn’t too sure we had enough in common to make it work, or how it would be doing long distance, but I was interested in getting to know him more.
Him
I felt like our conversation that morning had gone well, and I was so excited. It wasn’t till I had dropped her off and we were headed to meetings for the rest of the day that I started to be worried about what to do next. I wasn’t sure if she was ready to be seen with me showing her special attention in her church setting. I went most of the afternoon this way until I was going through the food line after meeting and something happened. I was kind of at the back of the line, talking with one of the brothers in front of me, with only a child or two behind me. Abigail came out of nowhere and sidled (as it seemed to me) up behind me in line. As we filled our plates I asked her if she would like to eat with me. You wouldn’t believe my relief when she said yes. I was on cloud 9 the rest of the evening. She showed me her office in the church building and we explored the attic of the church with some friends.
Her
Though I felt like we had both enjoyed our conversation over coffee in the morning, we hadn’t discussed what the next steps would be. We smiled as we passed each other in the halls but didn’t sit together or anything during the meetings. I was unsure what Evan was thinking, or even what I was thinking, actually. I decided not to think about it too much, but was a little surprised when I went to join the food line and happened to be right behind him. He asked to sit together then, I didn’t feel very up to conversation, so we opted for some exploration of the church building in the company of some friends. After he left I talked with some older people about my weekend, they were very supportive which encouraged me to ask if he would like to spend some time together the next day.
I was very glad we could go somewhere together on Monday. We discovered some more similar interests and just had an enjoyable several hours. I asked someone that had known him for much longer about their opinion of him and received a glowing report that was very encouraging. I still didn’t feel overly enthusiastic about it, but was willing to give it a go. I suggested he call my Dad before we become official.
Him
Monday was like a dream. She packed a picnic and I grabbed some flowers and picked her up in a manual. We ate on a rock by the ocean water and drove around town looking to find a Well that was open. After two fails, we took the train to the one downtown and got her favorite: Frozen Chai Latte. These in hand, we walked down to the Boston Common and sat in the grass and shared how both excited and scared we were about the future. This became a special spot for us because of this.
That evening she took me to the airport and we said our first goodbye. By now we were busy telling friends and family what was up as well. We had decided I would call her father on his day off that Wednesday to ask for his blessing and thus officially begin our courtship.

In all, I (Evan) made 7 trips to Boston in 2024 from May to December, and Abigail came to Minnesota twice. That’s 9 trips total which included a few road trips to places like Maine, Northern MN, and Detroit, 29 take-offs and landings between both of us and roughly 31,640 miles depending how you calculate it.
We regularly sustained 6-hour video calls, with our record being a 7.5 hour phone call in January during our longest time apart. Many thanks to our main hosts, the Hofers in Minneapolis and the Garbers in Boston and to the people who loaned us their vehicles during my visits.
I asked Abigail to marry me in the Boston Common at our special spot having known each other for just over 6 months, and she said a quick yes!We are so blessed by our family’s and friend’s support on our journey and covet prayers for our future.