December 2016 we both swiped right.
July 2017 we split and took a small 5 year hiatus. No communication. No seeing each other. Nothing. It’s amazing how fate works, though. And ours managed, with a perfect spiral, to fall directly into the hands of Julio Jones. Yes. THAT Julio Jones. Brett’s favorite NFL receiver. He was in the seat in front of me at the Preds 2021 season opener—a hockey game I wasn’t even supposed to go to but a friend got sick and passed the ticket on to me—and my first thought was “Brett would die if he saw this”. I wanted to take a picture and show him, but who was I to reach out after FIVE YEARS?? I had no clue what his life looked like anymore. Had no idea if he still even lived in Nashville. But before I could talk myself out of it, I took a chance and snapped the photo—a Hail Mary, if you will.

Here we are, three years after that day, planning to celebrate our forever with all of our favorite people. The universe made us work on ourselves individually before it would bring us back together. The epitome of “right person, wrong time”. In the end, we had to grow apart to learn how to grow together, and now, as we stand on the brink of forever, it has become clear that our journey is a testament to the fact that true love always finds its way back.

Tinder, oh Tinder. The tried and true matchmaking made for Millennials. I had just gotten sober. Like not even 60 days sober. Of course everyone tells you to wait until you work more steps and become more responsible, but I’m a Copper. We are some of the most stubborn humans on Earth. We met at a coffee shop and talked for hours. I immediately realized she was cute (obviously, or there wouldnt have been a 2nd date...) but quickly realized she was extremely intelligent, hard working and found me extremely funny. Honestly, is there a better quality in a Partner than the latter?? However, being that we were so young, had both just moved here, were both trying to figure out how to be adults (and again me trying to learn to live life sober), we had a great time but it wasn’t the right time.

Fast forward 5 years. Clearly Morgan was still madly in love and obsessed, I mean why else text me after 5 years right?? We both know Julio probably wasnt even at the game and was probably photoshopped in...but I digress. We started talking again and then decided to see one another. On the first phone call I remember her saying “wow... You’re so nice now”. I didnt know how to take it. Like is that an insult from before or what? But I quickly realized it was a small indicator for all of the hard work, change, and recovery that had been the focal point of my life for the 5 years we hadn’t spoken to one another. I instantly noticed how happy, energetic and outgoing she had become in that time. Once we finally saw one another, it was clear this was finally the RIGHT time. I couldn’t be more excited to spend my life with Morgan. She holds me accountable, supports my business and my recovery, her family loves me (more than they love her honestly) and MOST IMPORTANTLY - she thinks I’m hilarious. I proposed on an incredible vacation to France and Monaco and now we get to celebrate the rest of our lives with all of the friends and family we love the most.