Words will never be able to do this story justice, but the cliffnotes version is that Mike and I met when I moved to FL in the middle of 3rd grade (yes, you read that correctly, elementary school). And if you don’t think it’s possible for an 8 year old to fall in love at first sight, I assure you it is, and I’m pretty sure everyone at school knew it too. I changed schools for a couple years and then we crossed paths again in jr. high - gifted classes, band, me going out of my way to walk by his locker. In 8th grade we were crowned prince and princess at the Valentine’s dance, and no we weren’t dating... much to my dismay. High school was more of the same smattering of interactions and we went to our senior prom together (fun fact: he asked me on my birthday). No, we still weren’t dating. Yes, I was still very much dismayed... ⠀ I went away to school at UF, he stayed home and went to FIT. And by some miracle we finally started dating! We were madly in love and did the long distance thing for awhile, but ultimately parted ways as life was steering us in different directions. That was 15 years ago... With no mutual friends close enough to provide updates, we've had zero contact for the last decade and a half. As far as I was concerned it was as if he vanished, joined witness protection or something, because I would google him from time to time curious to see where he might pop up (don’t judge, you know you’ve done it too), and not a trace to be found. But thanks to social media (and the fact he was FINALLY coerced enough to make a profile), we reconnected in January of this year. A few message exchanges and FaceTimes later he and Buddy drove up to see me in NC. I leapt into his arms and it was as if nothing had changed. We still loved each other and knew we never wanted to be apart again. Mike suggested going to the courthouse the next day, but we opted to go play in the snow instead. So now we get to celebrate our union with you. <3