Back in the summer of 2021, I was walking at Holland State Park Beach and I saw the most handsome man I had ever seen in my life with the best smile in the world (spoiler alert, it was Nathan). When I passed by him, I looked back over my shoulder at him, and he was looking back over his shoulder at me too. It was a moment.

A few days later, I saw the same guy at my work, Menards! Turns out, we worked together. This was during the time where everyone had to wear masks for COVID, so I didn't recognize him until then. I tried to get the nerve to talk to him, but I was kind of shy. I noticed what a hard worker he was, his attention to detail, and how kind he was.

I finally convinced myself to say hi, but he wasn't at work for a while. I asked a coworker if Nathan still worked at Menards, and they told me that he quit.

"Aw man," I said. "I kind of liked him."

"Well," my coworker said, "I have his phone number."

"No, no," I insisted. "That would be weird of me to get his number from you."

"Well it's right here," my coworker said, pulling out the phone sheet from the desk. I refused.

But you know as soon as my coworker walked away, I saved Nathan's number to my phone.

A couple days went by and I wasn't sure if I should reach out or not, I thought it would be weird. But then I thought, what's the worst that can happen? If he doesn't like me I will never see him again.

So I texted him.

He texted back.

And he told me he didn't quit, he was just on vacation.

I was so mad at that coworker for giving me the wrong information, but, it was a funny moment and it was the only way to get two shy people to start talking. We talked about everything. When he was back at work, we would chat at work, he made it fun. I actually started to be excited to go to work.

Never had I found someone so easy to talk to, someone who just got me. He made me laugh, he was a great listener, and he quickly became my best friend.

He was quick to ask me on a date, and we have been inseparable ever since!

First Date: I'm getting ready to go on my first date with this beautiful girl named Jessica. Very nervous but ready. Date set at 4. I planned to pick her up a little early to show her I will always be on time. I headed over to her house, feeling nervous on the way but excited for my first ever date with an actual girl.

Finally get to her house, and someone is sitting outside with a gun, but it didn't even phase me, because it was just her younger brother, Eli.

I said, "What are you gonna shoot me?"

Eli said, "No, just sitting here."

Then I proceeded to walk to the front door and knocked. Jessica answered the door and said, "Hey, you ready?"

Then I hear, "Hey, Jess, let him step in!". Jessica's mom called from the kitchen. I don't remember exactly what she said, but she was trying to embarass Jessica, and also said something about her being her "mini-me". Then we headed to the car.

We headed to On the Border. I picked it because I knew Jessica loved tacos. We laughed, talked about life the whole way, and just had a good time, a great start. At On the Border, we enjoyed a nice mexican dinner. Jessica ordered the three mini chicken tacos, and I got the Queso Burrito. While we waited for our food, Jessica decided to play footsie with me. I didn't know what the heck that was, but went along with it. We got our food, and kept talking and eating. I paid the bill, then we headed to the beach.

When we got to the beach, we decided to go for a little walk. Midway through our walk, a big gust of wind started blowing sand in Jessica's face. I grabbed her hand to switch places and protect her from the wind, and we held hands the rest of the way. We went up the channel, and walked all the way to a little public dock overlooking Lake Macatawa. I held Jessica and we stared out at the lake for a couple of minutes. Fast forward two years, on the same dock looking at Lake Macatawa, but this time I'm on one knee proposing to Jessica. She started crying because we both have been picturing this day ever since we started thinking about it! She stopped crying for a second and said, "Yes I will". And then from there our Love for each other has just continued to grow more and more each day. Making us inseperable now more than ever. We can't wait to celebrate our Big Day with you there!