The summer of 2016 was somewhat of a turbulent part of my life. I was living in my dad's basement, working a summer job and was mulling a decision of moving to Colorado to finish my undergraduate degree or transferring to IUPUI. After being accepted into both universities, I was almost dead set on packing up and heading out west. After careful consideration and admittedly running around in circles, I decided to stay home in Indiana.

During a visit to Florida to see my grandfather, I developed a newfound relationship with my cousin and his then fiancee. When we returned home, I offered to help them with some housekeeping in their new home. After a long afternoon of painting, I was introduced to a friend of theirs. Her name was Kate. I did not think much of my introduction to her. I was not in the right place to court a new relationship and I quickly learned that she was in a relationship at the time.

Fast forward a few months. During a weekend hunting trip with my cousin and his then fiancee, I was asked if I would be interested in hanging out with Kate. Again, I was by no means ready to begin or looking for a relationship, but I agreed to exchange numbers and get to know her. I will admit (and not proudly), I was not very nice to Kate in the beginning. I was so dead set on being a bachelor and just "living". She ensured me multiple times that there was no label on what we had but I was convinced that she had ulterior motives.

And then everything changed. During the summer of 2017, I was going through a personal hell. I had made some very poor choices and was having to face those consequences. I was struggling to find the motivation to pick myself up. I just wanted to be by myself and shut myself off from the world. One afternoon, Kate asked if she could come see me because she had something for me. I reluctantly agreed (or she forcefully insisted) for a short visit. She arrived at my door with a red box, the "Sunshine Box". Unexcited by anything, I opened the box to find the most wonderful thing. Inside was nothing extravagant, but filled with some of my favorite snacks, TAB and movies (this was the first time Kate saw The Shawshank Redemption). The fact that this woman who I had put through the ringer and had dealt with every ounce of my BS, came to my rescue, meant the absolute world to me and made me realize I had someone very special.

Since that day, she has been a beaming ray of sunshine in my life. I am so grateful and thankful that she stuck with me through some of the worst moments of my life and has shown me unconditional love. I am so looking forward to the lifetime of happiness that is ahead of us.

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