They say true love finds you when you least expect it, and I can confidently say that neither Katherine nor myself anticipated finding our love in Africa during the summer of 2019. Yet, by the grace of God, we both found ourselves in Zambia to teach the local children through the same volunteer organization. During our 45-minute walks to and from school every day, we talked about our families, our friends, and our lives back home. We quickly became best friends as I began to fall in love with the most beautiful person, both inside and out. At school, we didn’t teach in the same classroom so I would secretly visit Katherine’s students to have a chance to talk to her (although I think she caught on pretty early). The rest of our trip was filled with a safari, bungee jumping, and stargazing, yet the future remained uncertain as we had to return to our separate lives.

Frequent facetimes and very infrequent visits allowed us to stay connected after leaving Africa. Despite the time away from each other, we always remained very close friends.

It wasn’t until May of 2022 when Katherine moved to Chicago that we were able to spend consistent time together. We went on lots of walks with Poppy, spent time at the beach, and she was even able to visit Iowa a couple of times, which luckily didn’t scare her away. We then started dating on July 28th of that same summer!

Since then, Katherine and I regularly visit each other in either Chicago or South Bend. We have picked up pickleball, rotate between reality TV and ESPN, and love going on ice cream dates. Everyday, I am thankful that I am one day closer to getting to spend the rest of my life with my best friend. We are so excited for June 22 and can’t wait to celebrate with all of our closest friends and family.