On March 25, 2016, love was found.

Mike and Meagan met at the joint birthday party of two mutual friends at Du Nord Distillery in South Minneapolis and connected quickly. Mike, fresh off one of his many bike rides in the mid-2010s, instantly went over to an unaccompanied-yet-confident Meagan and struck up a conversation. Glistening in sweat after the five-mile jaunt from Downtown Minneapolis to Du Nord, Mike was pleasantly surprised to find Meagan only mildly-repulsed by the moist man in her midst rather than completely horrified by the melty mess that stood before her. Meagan mentioned she had just gotten a promotion at work and would be captaining Kateri Residence after spending more than half-a-decade with St. Stephens Human Services in various on-ground capacities. Mike, an always-avid admirer of the above-and-beyond employee, was instantly attracted to the independent, strong, compassionate professional he had been so audacious in approaching. Meagan, tired of the same-old same-old on the dating scene, instantly gravitated to Mike’s energy, confidence, intentionality and authenticity. The night ebbed and flowed, one party receding, the counterpart advancing, the other party receding, their counterpart advancing. This dance played out over many hours until the momentary match went their separate ways for the evening, enjoying each other’s company but unsure if they’d see each other again.

But that ambiguity took mere minutes to resolve, as unbeknownst to the wandering pair each had asked their mutual friends about the mystery across from them shortly after leaving the distillery. When Mike’s next bike ride from Du Nord to Sisyphus Brewing reached its end, the first words out of his mouth to his beertending buddy were “I think I met someone tonight, and there’s something different about her.”

There was, and over the next 16 months neither Mike, nor Meagan, could shake the feeling that they had to have the other.

But as the first night they met ebbed and flowed, so did life for the duo. Mike made a move to Tennessee in the summer of 2017 to get his Masters and pursue broadcasting, the last night in his home state spent with Meagan on a beautiful and bittersweet evening. Shortly after, Meagan’s once-promising position with Kateri Residence was cut short, the program closing in a strategic shift by St. Stephens. 70-hour weeks for Mike in Tennessee and an uncertain next phase for Meagan meant the connection the would-be-partners had was in peril. 1000 miles between them, mystery on the horizon and timing playing games with their lives, many days made it seem that these two would simply be ships passing in the night.

Time wore on and Meagan decided to move to Duluth to get her Masters in the summer of 2018 while Mike entered the second year of his. While Meagan raised her educational game she also worked in her brother’s restaurants to make ends meet. Mike’s busy weeks continued into his second year at East Tennessee State with staffing changes pushing more onto a plate that was already overflowing in front of him. Their paths were aligning, both juggling multiple ventures and many competing priorities, but they were further apart than ever, 18 hours by car as the crow flies.

But, stubborn as both can be, they pressed on.

Visits between the two during the lockstep year of learning and both-end-candle-burning were infrequent but impactful. Phone conversations were a consolation but a gift. Months of uncertainty were dwindling and days grew longer without the other, but time apart made them realize their lives belonged together.

After Mike graduated he was offered a full-time broadcasting position to stay with ETSU, and after Meagan completed her summer internship she joined Mike in Tennessee. Through the final months of pre-COVID life and the first few months of the pandemic they lived apart, but it was only a matter of time before they began their first true time together. In August 2020 the budding romance united on Pickens Bridge Road in Johnson City, the place it would blossom in the following years. Sequestered holidays and weddings, date nights on the deck, cooking adventures (but mostly misadventures) together – it wasn’t exactly the traditional beginning to a life of love, but it was uniquely theirs, one they wouldn’t trade for the world.

When Mike took a job back home in the Twin Cities in August 2022, one more curveball was lobbed into an anything-but-ordinary courtship, but despite one more extended struggle apart, the pain of familiar isolation made sure that, like true love does, theirs would endure.

Meagan joined Mike in November 2022 on Selby Avenue in St. Paul, and the pair were once again side-by-side where they belonged. They reconnected with friends, family and forged new bonds with folks from both sides of their lives. It didn’t take long to culminate a long overdue engagement, Mike planning and carrying out a secret proposal in the mountains of Denver with two of their dearest friends encircling them to capture and celebrate the moment. 12,000 feet up, their heads were in the sky.

On March 25, 2016, love was found. On May 22, 2025 the couple that found it looks forward to celebrating with you!