Some love stories begin with a grand gesture, others with a quiet moment—but ours began with a pirate ship, a little serendipity, and the call of the sea.

The night was warm, the stars twinkling over the water as the salty breeze carried the sound of laughter and music through John’s Pass. I had just moved to Florida, and I was always enchanted by the pirate ship that sailed the waters. So on this particular night, my mom and I decided to embrace the adventure—Final Friday drinks on the pirate ship, the kind of carefree evening where anything felt possible.

As we stepped off the ship, ready for the next stop, fate had its own plans. At that exact moment, Jim appeared—dressed in a pirate outfit, looking every bit like he belonged to the sea, and yet, something about him felt like home. A little tipsy from my Coronas, I couldn’t help myself. “Can I have a picture with you?” I asked. With a smile, he said, “Of course.”

Something sparked in that moment. A nervous kind of excitement. A feeling I couldn’t quite place—but one I didn’t want to end.

As my mom and I walked away, I felt it slipping through my fingers. “Dang it,” I said. “I should have asked for his number.”

My mom, always wise, said, “No, you let him ask you.”

And as if the universe had been listening, before she could even finish her sentence, I heard it—

“Hey! Hey!”

I turned, and there he was, chasing after me. Breathless, smiling, eyes full of something unspoken yet certain.

“Can I have your number?” he asked.

And just like that, the tides shifted.

Our first date was on New Year’s Eve, under a sky bursting with fireworks, as if the universe itself was celebrating what we already knew—we had found something rare, something meant to be.

From that night on, our story unfolded like the waves—strong, steady, and always leading us back to each other. He met my family the very next day, and every step since has been a journey of laughter, love, and unwavering friendship.

Now, with the sea still as our witness, we’re ready to set sail on our greatest adventure yet.