Like most good things, our relationship was born out of a moment of divine intervention and then a season of faithful intention. We were set up by a couple of mutual friends (<3 to Bryce and Kara) who thought that we just may be each other’s type.

A brief chance encounter at the West Akron Aladdin’s sparked Kara’s interest on behalf of Sophie (unbeknownst to her). I seemed to fit whatever make-believe dating profile Sophie had in her head- once of course, it was confirmed that I was older than she was. My existence was made known to Sophie in a series of poetic text messages:

August 20th, 2023

“I have a boy for you”

“is it cute”

(A few pictures and messages later)

“He’s pretty cute it’s worth a shot”

Our initial meeting was cancelled due to my third bout with COVID, and I am sure doubt started to creep into Sophie’s head. At best, it was me showing weakness with a typical case of the man-flu. At worst, it was another boy already making excuses around commitment. But, perhaps thankfully, I actually was sick. And while driving 4 hours to meet a random beautiful blonde woman may have cured my body of all illness, it did not seem like not the best time to introduce myself.

So our meeting was pushed back to October 6th, 2023. I drove down after work and a social obligation I made, arriving at Somerset in OTR around 10:00 pm (typically both of our bedtimes). The meeting was….ok. This is where you’d expect a love at first sight moment but is not our story. The bar was dim and the music was loud. All that first encounter did was confirm to one another that the other was real. I guess that was all we needed.

The next morning we got brunch. First at a restaurant that didn’t serve brunch (we left, but they did have a great cup of coffee). Then to Hangover Easy, where we were subjected to perhaps the single worst serving performance by a waitress ever. After a 45 minute wait to be seated, we were treated with a 3 hour wait while she forgot to put our order in 4 times (zero exaggeration on any of these numbers).

What was frustrating in the moment seems now to be evidence of God telling us to slow down. Because of the waitress’s “mistakes”, we got to observe one another in a unique scenario. Since you all are reading this today, it seems we both passed. I loved how she, despite having the Bause Oktoberfest to get to (which may be the definition of a “can’t miss event”) she remained calm and pleasant… and hot. She saw in me the ability to address conflict with kindness, getting slightly frustrated with the lack of service, but never to the point of anger. We spent those 3 hours, with Kara and Bryce there to moderate, talking about fasting, music, college, allergies, goals, visions, family, preferred number of kids, fatherhood, motherhood, politics, views on birth control, faith…. There were not too many stones left unturned. And, as I have told Sophie in the past, she was saying all the right things.

There was a few months between that initial meeting and when I asked her to be my girlfriend, and that period was marked with doubt and fear around trying to make it work with some southern belle from Cinci. Thankfully, Sophie saw enough good in me to show real interest. And she had enough faith in herself to stick to standards that were good for both of us. Those standards manifested on 12/31/23, when during a walk on the river downtown I asked her if she was familiar with the standard American custom of the New Year’s Kiss. She was familiar, but informed me that it would not be happening without some real commitment. We took about 10 more steps, in silence, and then I asked, “Well, do you wanna do this thing?” (she said yes).

That New Year’s kiss turned into meeting the parents for stuffed cabbage rolls/pigs in a blanket, fly fishing trips, countless 4 hour drives to and from cinci/akron, meeting Oma + company, cigars with Kurt, handshakes with the Uncles, hugs with the Aunts, and one dining-table morning-devotional proposal 7 months and 22 days later. (she said yes, again.)

Now here we are, with all of you. Thank you for the roles you’ve played in our lives both as individuals growing up and as a young couple trying to figure it out.

Here’s to May 17th, and all the days after.

- Nathan

“We love, because He first loved us.”