I knew of Eli in high school and admittedly had such a big crush on him. Our paths crossed from a distance over the years at games when our high schools played against each other and when we were both at WKU; but I had never said a word to him or even officially met him until the summer of 2020 when he "slid” into my Instagram DMs. (How else do you meet someone during a pandemic?) On our first and only date that summer, Eli picked me up in Bowling Green, and we took one of the girls in his youth group and a friend to dinner at O’Charley’s for her birthday.

When the summer ended and the middle school football season started, Eli started asking me to come to a game. I had just started my first semester of graduate school and seemed to always have a reason why I couldn’t make it. I told myself (and Eli) that I was "just so busy" with school.

In mid-October, the day finally came that I didn’t have a good reason, or any reason at all, why I couldn’t go to the game. So, I dug out the only blue clothing I owned at the time, and I went.

I don't remember many details from the game, but I do remember that I had agreed to dinner with Eli after the game and ended up at Zaxby's with his whole family and Coach Chris instead. Dinner must have gone well because he hasn’t been able to get rid of me since!

Megan and I grew up in homes just 9.5 miles apart. However, we were seemingly raised worlds apart from one another; In two different communities, different school systems, and different social circles. It took just a simple DM on instagram in 2020 to finally bring our two worlds together, and life hasn’t been the same since.

Football seasons, baseball, church events, family, and graduate school have completely dominated my time since 2019. Megan has stood by me, supported me, and been my best friend through it all. My world is now hers, and her world mine.

The two have collided and merged in the most beautiful way.

I am so thankful to Megan’s family for raising such a hardworking, talented, and beautiful daughter

I am also thankful for the community that has made me the man I am today.

But I am most thankful to God, who in his perfect plan, saw it fit to bring Megan and I together.

I can’t wait to forever create and explore a whole new world, with new places, new friends, and new experiences together.