Andrew: It was August 5th, 2021. I was just walking around campus to get some fresh air, something I had done before. Little did I know that I would bump into my future spouse. Truthfully I saw her and was instantly amazed. All of a sudden a majority of my pride left and I knew I had to approach her, no matter how embarrassing it could be. To begin I did what any rational person would do, I continued to follow her as she walked away. Looking back it probably looked very stalkerish and I’m surprised she didn’t pick up the pace. I asked her the simple question “so what are you studying at Liberty?”. The interesting part about this was that we were on campus… I probably didn’t need to say at Liberty, but I was nervous. I was captivated by her tan skin and her big brown eyes. She looked angelic. To this day I have never seen anyone with a beauty like hers. I haven’t needed to even look since that day. The way the sun hits her face is something that seemed out of a movie. I was already gawking and drooling when I hit my next obstacle. She went to the bathroom. Little did she know that I wasn’t giving up. I waited and when she came out, I continued to talk to her. I wasn’t letting her slip away before I knew how to contact her again. It is crazy to think now that this beautiful Egyptian woman even gave me the time of day. And she gave me a LOT of time. She gave me over 3 hours as we walked over 6 miles. I remember thinking to myself how worthy of respect she was. I felt I finally had met my match. I felt like I couldn’t even express what I was feeling. I just knew she was special. She told me what she knew about football as we walked past the stadium. Yet I was thinking about how I could picture her with a briefcase and how cute she’d look. I was hooked already. Yet I knew I couldn’t lead her on. I thought I was destined to go play baseball in Europe. I thought that I was going to be out of the country as early as January. Yet I also knew I didn’t want to miss out on life with Helana in it. So I humbly explained my situation and I wanted to reassure her that I didn’t have commitment issues- so I simply told her that I didn’t want a relationship and I didn’t want to be physical. I told her how I wanted to expand my social circle. Although she brings up that moment often- she doesn’t know it’s one of my biggest regrets. Yet it’s clear that I couldn’t resist as we continued to call, text, FaceTime, and just talk all day and night. It took me all until August 8th to ask her to lunch and although she was late, she was worth the wait. We then went to Target where I told her I’d like to pursue her exclusively. It all started with a walk around campus and now all of my wildest dreams are coming true. Every story, much like life, is full of chapters… my favorite chapter will always be Helana and I cannot wait to continue to write this story with her. It wasn’t until Helana came into my life that I realized home wasn’t a place - it was and is a person. Helana is my home.

Helana: It was a beautiful summer day when we were both on campus, one doing summer coursework and the other just walking for some fresh air when we crossed paths. We were both going inside when I noticed this cute blue-eyed boy was following me for a while. I thought to myself "if he wasn't cute this would be a stalker situation" lol...he started up a conversation with me while we were both walking "hey, what are you studying at Liberty?" That was the start of our first conversation. I went into the bathroom and came out and he was still there...definitely stalking me then. He started talking to me again and then we just didn't stop...even 6 miles later. We walked around campus talking about everything under the sun and the moon until night came. Then he friend-zoned me...seriously he actually did. He said "I am not looking to date or get physical I just want to expand my social circle because I am planning to play baseball overseas"...He said that yet texted me every day, all day, and Facetimed me several times just "wanting to talk". Less than 48 hours later, he asked me to meet him for lunch and said that he wanted to pursue me and go exclusive. The rest is history. Little did we know, that walking around campus would lead to this day. It was the start of our forever.