Ethan and I met in 2014 while we were both at Albion College (go Brits). If you let him tell it, we met in the library where I (not very politely) refused a comfortable office chair he offered me. It was spring semester and I'd just returned to campus from studying abroad in Australia. Being the gregarious (handsome and charming) freshman that he was, Ethan had already met many students on campus, and I was a new face. He'd noticed me around and was intrigued, so he took that chance meeting in the library as an opportunity to introduce himself. As mentioned, I rejected his offered olive branch out of hand.

Now, I do remember that interaction in the library, but I don’t remember it being him. I was newly returned to Michigan, and quite frankly, I wasn’t too happy about it. On top of everything, my favorite, normally empty, study spot was suddenly occupied by an overly friendly freshman who was trying to talk to me (plus, I hated those library swivel chairs). So, yes, I rejected his kind offer and thought nothing more about it or him until the next semester when we both ended up training to be mentors for Albion’s freshman year (FYE) program.

This is where I like to pretend our story started. Not in the library, but in a lecture hall. Part of the FYE training meant learning A LOT of icebreakers, one of which involved passing a string to someone in the group and giving them a compliment. It was during that ice breaker Ethan gave me a compliment that proved he’d been paying far more attention to me than I had been to him. It was thoughtful and kind and even though the icebreaker was cheesy, the compliment was genuine. And I didn’t think twice when he asked me on a date shortly after.

Our first date started at a Bigby and ended at a (very heated) Albion faculty meeting we were definitely not supposed to be at. From there, we pretended not to date, even though we saw each other almost every day. And in the way that senior girls dating sophomore boys do, I pretended to be aloof even though I was anything but. When I graduated the following May and moved to Long Island, Ethan drove with me. Surprisingly, our summer in different states brought us closer together than we had been at Albion. We made the most of his (frequent) trips out to Long Island – jumping in the ocean, going to see Wicked on Broadway, even skydiving over the Bay. After that summer there wasn’t a question in my mind that I loved him.

Between our Long Island summer and October 17, 2021, when Ethan proposed, we had so many adventures together. Too many to put into words. Well, I could put them into words, but that would make this section even longer than it already is. Ethan proposed at sunset on the beach in Glen Arbor. We almost missed the sunset proposal because I was fascinated by some salmon spawning in a nearby river (so typical). It’s been eight years since our first date, and we are still two very in love, very smitten Britons. We are so excited for a lifetime of love together, and are happy all of you can join us on our special day to share in that love with us.