The summer before my junior year of high school, one of my close friends showed me a photo of the incoming freshmen. The moment I saw Lara, I instantly said, "I call her!" My friend then decided to play matchmaker and kept tagging me in her Twitter posts to see if she would reach out. Unfortunately, she never did, so I took matters into my own hands. I slid into her DMs, apologizing for my friend's persistence but secretly hoping it would spark a conversation ;)

I tried to be smooth when giving her my number, claiming I was getting off Twitter and she could text me if she wanted to keep talking. (Everyone knows you can just access Twitter on your phone, so it was a bit of a stretch.) Cheers erupted from my friends when I got a text from her right away. I think my buddy and I even chest bumped hahaha.

We started messaging more regularly, but then she surprised me by wanting to slow things down. I remember walking into football practice the next day, telling my friends, “Well, I just got dumped by a freshman.” I was confused because, despite our limited communication, there was definitely something special between us. I tried to see if she would come to one of my scrimmages later that week, thinking that if she showed up, I would have a chance. But, of course, she did not come.

During that scrimmage, I ended up getting hurt. Lara must have caught wind because soon after she reached out to me asking if I was okay. It only took me breaking my arm in two pieces to get another chance!

While I was recovering, we started talking again. A few days later, she and a friend came by to see me. It was the first time I met Lara in person—she was shy and barely even talked but it meant a lot that she took the time to check on me.

A few days later, I saw her and her mom at Sawa Steakhouse. She was again so shy, and I knew if I wanted this to go anywhere, I would have to make the first move. So with some encouragement from my friends, I finally asked her to go out on a date. When I sent that immature text asking her on our first date in 2013, little did I know that 12 years later I would have been asking out my wife.

Your presence at our celebration is the greatest gift of all! We are so grateful for your love and support!