During the summer between Sophomore and Junior year at Auburn, Leah was living in Texas and I was in New York. We were just friends (and had been for almost two years), but I found myself writing her a letter. A two-page monstrosity about nothing, as she likes to remind me. It wouldn't be for another two years that I would ask her on a date, but that summer I realized for the first time something I now think about often: I don't like being far away from Leah.

While at Auburn, we saw each other all the time. We were in the same friend group, so we'd always be at the same movie nights, football games, hangouts--including a rodeo--and were paired together at Joe and Becca's wedding. Normal life included Leah. So, it wasn't surprising when the following summer, we talked often and found a way to meet up in Waco (I was in Houston and she was in San Antonio). It also was not surprising when, the next fall, she was at my apartment multiple times a week to "print," or--after she returned from Uganda and I had moved back to Dallas--that she happened to come to the Texas State Fair and visit me. A month later, I "happened" to travel to Auburn for the Iron Bowl, and we "happened" to sit together, just the two of us. We started dating the next day.

Over the next couple years, Leah perfectly executed a creative plan that kept us from spending too much time on FaceTime or Southwest planes, but that kept us always thinking about each other. Then, on March 7, I handed her a shorter and more to-the-point letter along with a ring, and I asked if we could stay together for the rest of our lives. She said yes.

Leah, I love you, and I can't wait to start that time together on August 31.

- Nathan

L&N

Wedding Day