Daniel Patton is my very best friend. And for all who know how stubborn I can be, I’m sure it isn’t hard for you to believe that it took quite a bit of work on his end to get there.

We grew up going to church together, but we didn’t get to know each other until high school. I’ve always had a smaller inner circle, and Daniel was not part of it. Keeping up with close relationships is a lot of work, so I typically find a few friends that feel like family, and I don’t go looking for any more. It was by sheer will, luck, and Jesus’ intervention that Daniel managed to snag an opening.

Two of my good friends just so happened to be in Germany, so when I walked into youth group one Wednesday night and Daniel told me that he saved me a seat, I had no excuse to tell him no. However, I did have what I thought was a perfectly good excuse when he asked if I wanted to go to Little Rosie’s for chips and queso with some friends afterwards. I pulled out my tried and true, “I’ll ask my mom, but I’m currently grounded so it’ll probably be a no.” Daniel’s response -- “Well, I already asked her and she said you could go as long as I drive you home.” So that was how Daniel Patton forced me to officially accept him as my friend.

Up until he went off to college, Daniel continued to drive me to that little Mexican restaurant every Wednesday night to spend time with our friends. And when we both got back from university, we picked up right where we left off-- dinner with our friends every Tuesday, and (eventually) Daniel driving just the two of us to Little Rosie’s for chips & queso every Friday.

Our story picks up again at trivia with friends every Tuesday. These nights would continue after trivia as we sat talking in a car for a while, neither wanting to leave, neither willing to make the next move. Trivia on Tuesday progressed to lunch at Little Rosie’s every Friday with just the two of us. It was here that our friendship flourished into something more, but still neither of us would make a move, each cautious to risk a friendship for a relationship.

We then spent a month finding whatever excuse to spend time together— game days, dog walking, trivia. It was in these moments that everyone around us could tell something was there. My best man, Garrett, asked me pretty early on, “So what’s going on with this girl?” ….and I denied anything.

I eventually told myself that I was going to ask her out after trivia one night. I was a nervous wreck throughout the entire evening, and as we walked out talking, the nerves started to get the better of me. I could not bring myself to ask her on a date, and instead panicked and asked if she wanted to see a movie. There was nothing good in theaters, so I asked if she wanted to see John Wick 4. I had not seen John Wick 2 or 3, but that could be fixed in the next two days. We ended up settling on an entirely different movie on April 20th. It was after the show that I asked her on an official date, but we like to consider that as the day we started dating.

And life has just been getting better since then.