Our story starts in the halls of the Robert Bell building. It was spring semester of our freshman year at Ball State and we had English class together. Professor Larry Riley assigned a unique class project where students would “team up” to complete an essay as a group. This group essay would end up being the start of something very special for the two of us. We were only classmates at first, though I later found out she was crushing on me before. She had her eyes on me when I worked in the atrium serving up breakfast to the early bird students on campus. But now we were tasked with finding partners to complete this essay…except there was one problem…we both did not have anybody we wanted to work with except each other. As teams were formed, my options dwindled, and I knew I needed to make my move. The only person I cared to work with was this cute blonde named after a flower after all. Once I worked up the courage, she happily agreed. Over the course of the class through that semester in 2019 we became inseparable. We also figured out that we lived in the same dorm, Lafollette. Not only were we classmates, but we were neighbors. The days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months and before long the semester was over…The only problem was that we both did not pass the class. We were too preoccupied falling in love.

That summer we discovered we lived close to each other even off-campus. She lived in Noblesville on Sagamore golf course and I was down the street in Fishers. Now, I will say I thought I had hit the lottery, a beautiful girl, with an amazing personality, that lives on one of the nicest golf courses in the state. I had to pinch myself because I thought I was dreaming. We spent that summer golfing, swimming, and lollapalooza-ing any moment that we got. It really was a story book summer. (ps - it was my best summer ever). We could not spend enough time with each other. As we met each other‘s friends and family, we created lifelong memories that we will cherish forever. One of my personal favorites was her first time going to the Indy 500 with me. Before long, summer faded to fall, and it was time to head back to school. And all along, unbeknownst to us, Lily was pregnant!

We now had a very big secret. One that would change our lives forever, for the better. As two teenagers in our second year of college, we also were preparing to become parents. It is something only her and I shared that winter, and although it was intense, there was a sense of peace knowing we were going through it together. Little did we know, 2020 would turn out to be a year that was crazy for everybody…

For us, it turned out to be a little more awesome. The world paused so we could soak in all of the newborn baby time, graduate college, and start mapping out our future as a family. Thanks to our incredible support system, this was all possible.

Now, we spend our time coaching Marigrace in soccer. A newfound passion of ours…working together to corral a bunch of 4 and 5 year old girls. This fall, we will attend each colts game at Lucas Oil as we are now proud season ticket holders…eagerly awaiting our boys in blue to bring home the coveted Lombardi trophy. Lily is becoming a skilled fortnite legend earning victories on her trusty Nintendo Switch. Together, we are working on turning our brown thumbs into green ones…but so far we still manage to kill even the simplest of plants. As our love grows, so do the people that we share our wonderful lives with. Those that we hold nearest and dearest to us have now meshed to become one big set of friends and family. We are truly blessed and cannot wait to see what is next for us on this journey together.

I love you Lil

-CW