The first time I met Katie, I pulled her out to dance to a Mexican song in which I can confidently say she had no idea how to dance to it. I was shy, but something about her gave me the confidence to try. We talked about little things, like sports, and even in that short moment, I felt something different, something real.

Just a week later, she invited me to her cabin with her friends. From that night on, my life changed. She instantly made me fall in love with her and from that moment, I knew I wanted to build my life with her. At the age of 17, she was the most beautiful, kind, and genuine person I’d ever met and I knew she’d continue to be for the rest of my life.

We spent every day together for two months straight. As time passed, we faced our first mountain of struggles, which was her leaving to college in San Luis Obispo. However, I knew that I needed to do whatever I had to in order to not let her go. So, we put God in the middle of every aspect of our relationship and watched how He blessed us to not only grow as individuals, but together as a couple.

For four years, I visited her almost every weekend, even if it was just for a few hours. It wasn’t always easy, but with God at the center and constant communication, our love only grew stronger.

I knew I loved Katie from the start. It took me two weeks to say it—before I even asked her to be my girlfriend. But in that moment, I knew. I knew she was the one I wanted to spend forever with.

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