Our story begins on a camping trip to Ponca, AR near the upper Buffalo River. We were each invited by the Tobins for a Labor Day getaway in the beautiful Ozarks. Shy, subtle glances were shared almost from the beginning. Conventional campfire building quickly devolved into medieval style torch construction by Lisa’s nephews, coached by Aaron. He admired Lisa’s Girl Scout skills around the camp. On a quick trip to a top secret hiking spot known only by Aaron’s sister, Kristin, the Tobins didn’t have enough room for everyone in their truck. So Aaron graciously offered up shotgun in his car. (Actually, he was trying to avoid being stuck with a stinky teenager).

Lisa had car trouble on the way to and from Ponca which necessitated extra stops to add coolant. Aaron stayed behind to help make sure Lisa would make it home. Later that week Aaron messaged Lisa with an overture of friendship...he wasn’t looking for anything “more”....just knew that we clicked and were kindred spirits of a sort. One outing led to another, from scoping out potential camp sites, to a drive in movie, to cooking together, hours spent talking, texting, and creating Spotify playlists, we were able to spend uncountable hours of pandemic dating while social distancing. Just a few weeks in, someone said the “L word”, and nine long days later, Lisa said it back.

Though we hadn’t known each other that long in the conventional sense, it felt as though our souls knew each other and were meant to be together.