Meredith's POV:

May of 2020 was the first time I heard about Joel. My friend Gloria that I met at work crew through Young Life snapchatted our girls work crew group chat and said she wanted me to date her friend Joel. This was followed by a screen recording of his Instagram and some other pictures. So I said ok! But that was early May and then I didn't hear anything for a while until I was about to go to the mountains with some friends and Joel added me on snapchat (but didn't snapchat me...). So when I was feeling bold in the mountains with my friends I snapchatted him and struck up a conversation about how we were both at Clemson and planning on becoming Young Life leaders when we returned to Clemson for sophomore year. We snapchatted all summer and got to know each other until but never met in person due to Covid.

We both moved into our apartments in August 2020 and still had never met in person but knew that we had Young Life placement at the end of August. A day or two before placement we were discussing (yes, via snapchat) how we were riding to placement and Joel said he didn't have a ride, so I offered him a spot in my car. On the morning of placement, me, Joel, my roommates, and a few other friends piled in my car. We then both got placed (Wren Middle and Daniel High School!). When we were leaving placement, I went to ask Joel if he needed a ride back and he decided to ride with his team so I went with my roommates to my car where I saw Joel left his coffee cup. I almost took it to him but decided I should hold on to it just in case I needed to have an excuse to talk to him later. I told him that night I had his cup and he said I could bring it to our coffee date a few days later!

Our first date started at All In Coffee shop in Clemson, which led to some driving around, which led to Chick-Fil-A, which then led to the Dikes at sunset and suddenly 8 hours later our first date was over! A couple weeks later Joel asked me to be his girlfriend and now we have been together for almost four years!

Joel is the funniest, most caring and hard working person I know and dating him has been so much fun. He is full of patience, joy, and knows how to love others so well.

We both moved to Charleston after graduation where Joel started at MUSC and I was in online graduate school! After about a year in Charleston, Joel proposed at the front of his neighborhood on July 13th 2024!

We're so excited for the next steps in our lives and can't wait to enjoy April 12th, 2025 with everyone!

Joel's POV:

I first heard of Meredith from my friend Gloria when asked to describe my ideal girl during the Covid pandemic in 2020. I got her snapchat from her and started snapchatting in May. While talking, I realized how much we had in common and how easy it was to talk to her.

We met in person in the fall of 2020 when I asked for a ride to Young Life placement because I did not know that many people. As I was leaving placement with my Young Life team I noticed my mug was in Meredith's car, but decided to leave it because I knew it was an opportunity to see Meredith one on one in the next few weeks. After getting home I asked her to get coffee with me and to bring the mug. The date was a great and the conversation seemed to never end.

After a few more dates I realized how much I liked her and wanted to make her my girlfriend. As we dated through college I realized how special Meredith was and how she made a me a better person.

We both moved down to Charleston in the fall of 2023 with friends from college and I began medical school and Meredith began grad school and working full time. Through my first year in medical school I realized just how lucky I was to be dating a girl like Meredith and that I needed to go ahead and marry this girl.

I asked Meredith to marry me in the front entrance of my neighborhood where I grew up on July 13th 2024. It was such a fun time and I am looking forward to the fun we will have not only at the wedding on April 12th 2025, but for the rest of our lives!

Photos