Chance is a funny thing; chance that kept us apart and chance that brought us together. Our story doesn’t begin with us bumping into each other in a bar or taking a class together or being set up by friends. It starts much simpler than that, in September of 2018 Ben was sitting in the student union at the University of Alabama in Huntsville when I came walking down the stairs from a sorority event. I was all dressed in white and when he saw me he couldn’t take his eyes off of me. So much so his buddy Martin, sitting across from him, asked what he was looking at. He said he saw the most beautiful girl walking down the stairs. Martin quickly turned around and before even turning back he was cackling, he could barely get the words out of his mouth, “That is Groebner’s sister!” Groebner being my brother and Ben’s friend, Josh.

At this point, Ben texted my brother and told him he needed to meet me, however he could get that done, just do it… Or at least that is what he should have done. Fast forward two months and it was Delta Zeta’s Fall Formal. Martin, Ben’s roommate, told us that we could all come back to their apartment to spend the night after the formal since most of our group were all mutual friends. After a fun long night of dancing and partying, we made it back to their apartment and the party kept going. Ben and I got to talking that night and we really hit it off, we talked all night and the rest is history… Just kidding, he went home that weekend, but my best friend Briana and I did sleep in his bed! On top of all of that we later realized that we sat in church a few rows away from each other almost every weekend and still never ran into one another.

Fast forward another 5 months, it was Easter weekend and my family traditionally has a party on Good Friday. Keeping with tradition, Josh and I decided we wanted to throw a Good Friday party for all of our friends. Another friend of ours, Jacob, offered up his apartment for the night. As chance had kept us close but apart for nearly 8 months, chance was about to bring us together. Jacob had a few roommates and one of those roommates was Ben. Good Friday came and went and our lives would never be the same.

The next morning I would come to realize I had lost the back of my earring and it was somewhere in Ben’s living room. I found out later he had made it his life’s mission to find that earring back, and of course, he did. This gave Ben the chance he had been looking for to finally reach out to me and once he texted me the first time we never stopped. The end of the semester was a whirlwind of cards, parties, finals, volleyball and many late nights together driving aimlessly around Huntsville. We became inseparable. It was probably annoying our friends, but we would never have noticed. Almost a whole month of this before the semester came to an end.

Unfortunately it was time for me to go back home and the night before I left Ben dropped me off to my parents and promised to visit. He kept his promise in June, a couple days before my birthday, and came to Northwest Indiana. When he left we were dating and the rest was finally history.

Almost 4 years flew by with life events, graduations, trips, houses, and so many amazing memories. Ben decided he was going to plan a trip back to Huntsville to see our friends, but had been secretly planning something much larger for a while. With the help of Briana, he planned one last drive around Huntsville only this time it was a little less aimless. He took me to all the spots that had meaning to us from when we first met and once we were finally back on campus he got down on one knee. He talked for like two minutes, but I did not hear a word he was saying, I was just waiting for his lips to stop moving. Spoiler alert, I said yes! and later I made him tell me exactly what all he had said.

This brings us to today, and as chance would have it we are planning our biggest and best party yet! We are so grateful for each and every one of the people in our lives, that will make this day so special for us. We cannot wait to meet you on the dance floor November 2nd, 2024, where we will start making the memories for the rest of our lives.

With love,

The Future Comptons