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I moved to Columbus single and knowing only a few people. My first week in town I met up with my friend Belle for dinner and the Ohio State Fair, and she brought some friends so I could meet them. To be honest, when Brad picked me up and even after we got to know each other better at dinner and the fair, I had no intention of dating him. I just wanted to make new friends, and I definitely didn’t want to mess up any new friendships with the only people I knew in town. It wasn’t until I started to spend more time around Brad that I became really interested in him. He had a quiet confidence that I was drawn to, and it was clear that he was humble. You never had to explain to Brad why he should care about X issue or Y group of people. He just did, which was so attractive to me. He’ll tell it a different way, but my first attempts at flirting with him were unsuccessful and I gave up for a bit. I tried to ask him about a solo camping trip he went on, but I didn't get many details. I then told him that in my mind he had red hair even though I realistically knew he was blonde, intending to elicit some sort of bigger reaction. It turns out this attempt was very successful. One day, I texted our group to see if anyone could hang out, and everyone was “busy” except for us. In reality, they had been trying to set us up for months. We had a perfect unofficial first date, but I knew I only wanted to date if it was going to last. Brad was so patient in pursuing me, which ultimately showed me so much about the kind of person he is. Two weeks into dating, we knew it was the real deal and we sat on my pink couch while we promised each other we would put in the work (Note: Brad HATED this couch, so naturally it had to make an appearance here). A pandemic, a puppy, a couple of moves, and a lot of memories later I’m so excited to be tying the knot with my best friend and the love of my life. I can’t picture things any other way.

Right after starting my 3rd year of medical school, my roommate Anthony invited me to hang out with our good friend, Belle, and another of their old friends from college, Amanda. I drove, and we planned to pick them up from Belle’s place across town. As we pulled up to her condo, Amanda walked down the stairs and hopped into my car. It sounds insane now, and trust me, it felt insane then, but as we exchanged our first Hellos, I immediately thought to myself, “Man, I’m going to marry this girl.” To this day, I don’t think Amanda believes this story, but it is the honest truth. And don’t get me wrong, I had a couple of doubts thereafter. Just weeks later, I had accepted my fate of being friend-zoned for life, when Amanda showed me her Tinder profile, and in turn made fun of mine. She also told me that she “felt” like I was a redhead, despite having objectively blonde hair. If anyone can suss out the meaning of this, please email me, as I remain puzzled years later. Hope was renewed a short while later, when Anthony and Belle suddenly “couldn’t” hang out, leaving Amanda and I alone to go on our first real date. After eating macarons at North Market in Columbus, we started to say goodbye, but promptly realized that neither one of us wanted to go home. Our date was extended by a two and a half hour movie, and by many many dates after that. Amanda is one of a kind. She is generous, perceptive, deeply introspective, and has my favorite smile in this world. And… not going to say I told you so… but on 10.29.2022, I’m going to marry this girl.