There’s an old saying: “You know when you know”; and when Kaylee and Brennen met on August 7th of 2021, neither was looking for “the one” nor had a clear vision of where life would take them in the next few years. If anything, both Kaylee and Brennen were stuck in an uncertain phase of their life, longing for something more than what life was currently giving them. Little did they know what lay ahead.

Kaylee had a long history of medical problems that prevented her from living a normal life. (If you have two hours of free time, she’ll gladly tell you all about it.) She had missed out on much of what peers her age experienced in school and in life, but planned on taking college courses in the fall and, at the least, accomplishing a degree; hoping it would lead her in a clearer direction. She was eager to find more and hopeful for her medical journey.

Brennen, who was a couple of years ahead of her, felt that he had reached his ceiling at his current job in Ohio, and was beginning to search for other opportunities. Ultimately hoping they would eventually bring him closer to home (Pittsburgh).

When invitations were sent out for a friend's party in August, Brennen immediately jumped on the opportunity to see his college friends again. Since his distance from Pittsburgh was great, opportunities to see many of his friends from college were becoming few and far between. Kaylee was unsure if she should even attend the party. The invite was from a friend she hadn’t seen since high school, and it would be the first time she would attend a party of any kind since the pandemic. She ultimately decided to go in hopes of seeing some old friends and maybe meeting a few new ones.

Kaylee will tell you that when she first laid eyes on her future husband, she saw God’s Light shining on him. Brennen would tell you that he was completely oblivious to her obvious gaze for about an hour, only to finally be notified by a few friends that she, indeed, was locked into his every move.

When they were finally introduced that night, they were hard to separate. They asked each other questions about life and their many interests. Brennen raved about the appetizers Kay had brought, and she hung onto his every word as if it were the air she was breathing. They followed each other on Instagram, and continued to talk long after it got dark, growing less nervous as the hours passed.

In the days following the party, Kaylee and Brennen engaged in conversations over Instagram. Why didn’t Brennen just get her number like a normal person? If you ask him, his answer isn’t great. (He’s not good at this, but he means well!) Eventually, the conversations stalled. As Kaylee took a while to respond to Brennen’s questions, he took that as a sign that maybe she just wasn’t as interested in him as he had hoped. He stopped reaching out, and conversations stopped. Kaylee figured he was no longer interested and didn't want to overstep. She had a conversation with God and knew that if she was meant to see him again, she would.

Two months went by when Kaylee received an invite to a tailgate by the same friend before a Steelers game with the crew from the summer party. She jumped on the opportunity to go in hopes of mingling with the newfound crew and, if she was blessed enough, run into Brennen again.

As God would have it, Brennen was able to make the trek from Ohio to the tailgate that day, and Kaylee made every excuse to make sure she was in his line of sight. A clever line from Kaylee about Brennen’s eyes all but erased any doubt he had about her interest in him. The two went to the casino that night to watch the game accompanied by Brennen’s greatest wingman ever, Ian Barclay, and by the end of the night, the two were holding hands eager to make plans on when they could see each other again.

Their first official date came later that week and they haven’t looked back. They knew they were made for each other. The next 3 years brought 3 different apartments, two cats, one diamond ring, and a whole lot of personal growth. God’s Light was shining on them both and His love for all of us can be seen in their love for one another.