Although our love story began in 2019, it technically started a decade earlier at the 2010 Knanaya convention in Dallas. At 12, I was the youngest of my 13-year-old friends and behind in their weekend-long obsession with boys. I finally lost it when they wanted to go backstage to congratulate the Chicago guys on their cultural program dance. They reassured me and promised they wouldn't follow boys around anymore and actually kept that promise until the very last night. That’s when 14-year-old Albin strolled in to talk us up. I stood there annoyed, arms crossed and rolling my eyes, as he exchanged emails and AOLs with my friends and became the gateway to the other guys. Although he claims he doesn’t remember, it definitely made a lasting first impression on me. As years passed, we added each other on Facebook which turned to Instagram then to Twitter simply because we were kids who added anyone we met those days. Unknowing to both of us, this small gesture let us passively watch each other grow up over the years. We’d run into each at other conventions but never beyond a quick hello. That was until 2019 Miami Youth Convention... On the second day of YC, I was stuck doing homework and had to meet with my friends later. Once I made it, I was talking in a group when Albin, standing across from me, asked if anyone would go to the beach with him to get his sandals. No one answered him so he asked again, this time making eye contact with me. Feeling bad and wanting to go to the beach myself, I said yes! We casually walked down when my cousins Lance and Jamie started making gestures teasing us. I was mortified since I truly had no other intentions and tried waving them off before Albin noticed. Later, Lance told me that out of all the potential options there, Albin was the best choice and went on about what a genuinely nice guy he is. I was surprised, our interaction had been so friendly that I hadn't really considered Albin. However, seeing one of my guy cousins vouch this hard for someone he grew up with planted a seed in my head that day. We didn't hang out much afterwards but on our last day in Miami, I was dancing with some girls when Albin once again, the lone guy unafraid of talking to girls, came up and started dancing with us. This time, his charisma won me over and I genuinely had a blast! We tried talking on socials for a bit but it sadly fizzled quickly. In the next 3 months, we both moved on with our lives but somehow Albin kept popping up in mine. Looking back at my YC snapchats, I was surprised to see him randomly in two of my videos and it caught my attention. Then, one day I got a notification that "Anjali Mutholam" liked one of my old tweets. I didn’t know he had a sister, but that same day he posted a story tagging her. I thought this was way too much of a coincidence and wondered if he was still thinking of me and showed me to his relative Anjali. When Albin eventually replied to my story with the mid message of "this album is flammessss 🔥🔥", I normally would’ve just liked it and moved on but after all those little signs, it felt inevitable to explore this so I decided to keep it going. He still insists the signs were completely unintentional but I see it as the invisible string that tied him to me :) Soon, our messages turned into texts, and with a helpful nudge from my sister Caroline, I finally initiated a phone call. When he FaceTimed me instead of just calling, I panicked and didn’t pick up—only calling him back an hour later. By the second FT though, we talked for 6 hours straight, and from that moment, we never stopped talking. Albin has been my constant support, the person who lets me turn my brain off. He’s kind, thoughtful, and unshakably true to his values. No matter what challenges come his way, he consistently perseveres and finds the silver lining. He’s the golden retriever to my black cat, the steady, loving presence I didn’t know I needed, and the person I can’t wait to spend my life with!

I’ve always loved music, but I’ll admit I never actually listened to the lyrics. So when Christal posted Summer Walker’s “Playing Games,” I replied because I genuinely love the song, not because I was trying to slide into her DMs. Even though she thought it was a little corny, that fateful reply started everything. We talked constantly, using every communication channel possible (yes, even Venmo). After a few months, I booked a flight to sunny San Diego for our first weekend together. When she picked me up from the airport, we were both pretty nervous about how the weekend would go. But after a few awkward silences, and a bottle of wine that we broke trying to use her fancy wine opener, it literally broke the ice and made it clear we were meant for each other. I officially asked her to be my girlfriend while watching the sunset on the beach on February 1st, 2020. After that weekend, we planned to see each other in Chicago, the weekend before the COVID shutdown, which is where I knew I loved her. We were at Lou Malnati’s, playing people-watching games with the other diners. We immediately hit a flow state, riffing off each other and laughing so much that by the time we finally looked down, our food was cold. Her humor, and the joy she brings to life, continues to be one of my favorite things about her. Because of the pandemic, we weren’t able to see each other for seven months after that visit. After a few months with no end in sight, the distance started to get tough. When we finally planned a weekend together, it already felt fragile, like something we had both been holding carefully for months. Then my plane was rerouted to LAX instead of SFO. I remember staring at my phone, doing the math in my head, realizing how much of our already short weekend would disappear. After waiting so long just to see her, it felt unfair in a way I couldn’t quite explain. I assumed we’d just make the best of it and accept the lost time. But Christal didn’t hesitate. As the out-of-the-box thinker she is, she told me she’d drive down to Los Angeles after work to meet me there. Six hours. After a full day. No complaints, no debate, just a solution. That was the moment it shifted for me. Not because it was dramatic, but because it was so certain. She showed up, not just physically, but fully, and I knew then that this was the person I wanted to choose for the rest of my life. That’s when I knew I had to marry this woman. Since then, we’ve been through the long-distance wringer: residency, multiple cross-country moves, endless flight delays and cancellations, and countless virtual movie nights where one of us fell asleep halfway through. Through it all, Christal and I have learned how to move together- how to adjust, listen, and meet each other where we are. What started with a song I liked but didn’t really listen to has become something deeper: learning when to lean in, when to pause, and how to stay in step even when the timing is off. Can’t wait to celebrate our love with everyone!