In May 2021, as Madi was graduating from the University of Alabama, I texted her from Houston, Texas, letting her know I would be her mentor once she arrived at school in the coming weeks. I had selected hers from a handful of questionnaires, drawn in by her choice of television shows, hobbies, and most importantly, her birthday. However, she thought I was a different classmate of ours, so her story really begins a few weeks later in Houston.

We organized a night out with some classmates and friends at one of our favorite dive bars. We spent the evening playing darts and ping pong, while getting to know each other better. The following week, I helped out with one of Madi's lab sessions, where she spent the morning poking me with needles while learning to start her first IV. My veins must have made an impression because I later found out she was talking about me at brunch after the lab. That weekend, we went to a Houston Astros game, followed by a bar crawl. We were chauffeured around by our designated driver, Ituriel, who remarked on how inseparable we were that night—the only thing momentarily stealing my attention being a good old-fashioned turtle race! We spent the next few weeks continuing this pattern, rarely spending time apart, until it was time for my month-long rotation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

That’s when we both realized how special our connection was. She cried when she dropped me and the howling cat off at the airport. Throughout July, we talked on the phone every day about everything—from this wedding to future kid names, and the cases we’d worked on. In August, we were finally together again, and the inseparability resumed. We had lots of firsts the next few weeks like Madi's first trip to Wisconsin, my first time meeting her family, and first time going to work together. But, as all good things must come to an end, it was time for another rotation in Wisconsin, this time in my hometown of La Crosse.

Before I left, we had the early, but necessary, conversation about where we saw our relationship going. We both quickly declared that we thought it was the real deal .I got the job offer I was expecting and all that was left was for Madi to visit La Crosse and see if she could see herself living as a Wisconsinite. She made the trip toward the end of the month and, thanks to decent October weather and the changing leaves, she could see herself in the small city.

I finished out my last year of school in Texas and left for Wisconsin in May. We spent the next few months traveling to see each other, and Madi came for month-long rotations as I began my new job. During one of these rotations, she received a job offer as well, and we started the process of moving her stuff, one suitcase at a time. In February 2023, she received permission from her school to finish her training at the hospital where she would be working, and we finally moved her up completely.

Shortly after Madi’s graduation, we began to look at buying a house. After just a few showings, Madi found a house she absolutely loved. I didn’t quite see the vision, but it was a strange time in the housing market so I didn't think putting an offer down would guarantee getting the house. Turns out that we only needed to put one offer down to end the house hunting. Also, it turns out that Madi was right! We moved into our house in June of 2023 and have been loving it ever since.

Our lives since have been filled with lots of travel, work, and relaxation. We have been able to take many trips to Texas, go on a Mediterranean cruise, spend a week in Spain, celebrate in Mexico, weddings in College Station and Nashville, marathons in Green Bay and Myrtle Beach. My sister and brother in law like to joke that it must be good to be DINKs (double income no kids) and it really is! On our last big trip to Norway, I finally asked Madi to be my wife and she said yes! It wasn’t a surprise to anyone, but it was still special to share that time with each other in such a beautiful place. Now let’s get this weekend started so we can go off to many other beautiful places as husband and wife! Thank you for being a part of our special day!