I met Kaylee at Quioccassin Middle School for our first date, where we were going to play basketball. It was all arranged through a dating app, and my opening line was, without a doubt, the best one ever: “Hi Kaylee! Did you get anything cool for Christmas?!” I was nervous but also excited that a girl would actually want to play basketball for a first date.

When I arrived, I saw her walking toward me with a pink stocking cap, and I thought, Wow, she's beautiful—and way out of my league. I went to give her a hug, but she responded with the most awkward half-hug I’d ever received. In that moment, I thought to myself, Well, this isn’t going to work out. But I decided to relax, have fun, and show her my basketball skills—at least I could make the best of it.

As we shot hoops, we talked and I managed to get a couple of smiles out of her. I remember thinking how gorgeous her smile was. The biggest smile came when I playfully told her how bad she was at basketball. After the date, as I was driving home, I figured, Well, that’s the end of that. To my surprise, she texted me later, and we've been together ever since.

I knew she was something special when we met again for the second time. She asked me to help her put together some drawers—and I completely failed. But she was so patient and reassured me it was okay. In that moment, I realized just how incredible she was. And that’s when she finally gave me a real hug.

We laugh, cry, and have fun no matter where we are. We enjoy the little things together and are just as happy doing nothing as we are doing something. We both love to help others in our own ways. And our shared love of dogs is something special, too. Early on, she told me, “If you’re lucky enough, one day you’ll meet all my family’s dogs.” I took that as a challenge, and honestly, I couldn’t wait to meet all her pups.

When I finally got to meet her dog family, I realized, without a doubt, that she was the one.