When sitting down to write "Our Story," I had a hard time deciding where to begin. Our first meeting, our first date, or the day Josh asked me to be his girlfriend all felt important in their own ways. But none of them felt like the true beginning. That's because our story started long before either of us realized it. When I was little, visiting my grandma's house, Josh was the little boy climbing the trees right outside her window. We discovered this years later. I asked him to walk with me through the neighborhood where my grandma had lived. As we talked, we realized we had climbed the same trees, played in the same fields, and spent time in the same places years before we ever officially met. As we compared memories, we kept uncovering more and more moments like this. We had attended many of the same events and activities growing up, always nearby but never quite crossing paths. Josh and I officially met during my freshman year of high school. At the time, we were simply friends. When he graduated, I assumed our paths would eventually go their separate ways. A few years later, I moved to Gilbert, more than an hour away from where we had grown up. Somehow, without either of us realizing it, we ended up living only five minutes apart. Once again, we found ourselves shopping at the same stores and spending time in the same places without ever running into one another. Life shifted again, and eventually we no longer lived nearby. Then, months later, we reconnected. As we spent more time together, we began realizing just how many times our lives had nearly crossed. It felt as though something had quietly been pulling us toward each other all along. Our first date was at a nature preserve near my house. I was so nervous that I tried on quite a few outfits before it was time to leave. When Josh picked me up, I still felt nervous, but there was also something comforting in the familiarity of him—the same voice and big smile of the teenager I had joked with and even danced beside during marching band years before. I think I managed only a handful of sentences during the entire date because Josh is definitely the talker between the two of us. I loved listening as he shared stories about his siblings, his childhood, and the beliefs that shaped who he is. Before leaving the preserve, we stopped at a small observatory and looked at Jupiter through a giant telescope. Not long afterward, we officially started dating. Funny enough, Josh asked me to be his girlfriend on the same day I had my wisdom teeth removed. My dad still jokes about the timing now and then. In the days that followed, Josh drove over an hour to see me every single day just to check on me and make sure I was doing okay. That was when I realized the kind of man he was. Even at the beginning of our relationship, he was willing to give so much of himself to make sure the people he loved felt cared for. I knew I had found someone truly selfless, kind, and dependable. Being together felt strangely easy, as though we had already spent years finding our way back to one another. From there, we only grew closer until Josh proposed on a beach in San Diego. Standing there during his proposal, it felt as though every almost-meeting and missed connection had led us exactly where we were meant to be. Somewhere along the way, all the almost-meetings became a life together. Looking back now, it's hard to believe how many times our lives nearly crossed without either of us knowing what was ahead. Through every missed moment, unexpected turn, and chance encounter, we still found our way to each other. At the time, each of those moments seemed ordinary. Looking back now, we can see how God was using them to write a story far greater than either of us understood. And now, we can't wait to begin the next chapter together.

Everyone knows the saying, “you will find it when you least expect it” or “you find love when you stop looking for it.” I hadn’t ever taken those sayings to heart. But I’m sure glad they sometimes ring true. Cait and I first met back when we were both in high school. It was a color guard tryout of all things. Only God knew that I was going to meet the woman I would spend the rest of my life with in that high school cafeteria. We became good friends but it wasn’t ever more than that. She was a great dancer and was the easiest to practice our lifts on. She was the cute girl with the curly hair who liked to be flipped during our practice breaks. Post graduation, I didn’t see much of my high school friends. I start working in fast food, and few months later, who, of all people, had applied to work at the same restaurant as me? THE Caitlin Henderson. Now the cute girl with the curly hair was working at the same place as me. We hardly had shifts together, mostly only seeing each other during shift changes. She was never working when they posted the schedule. Most of our first texts show her asking for the next week’s schedule, which of course I obliged. After the brief period of working together we didn’t talk much. The occasional “how’ve you been” conversations popped up whenever one of us would post about something exciting. Finally after YEARS of this occasional small talk we found ourselves in longer conversations over text. Following a couple of weeks of talking over text we finally set a time for our first date. We walked around the Gilbert Riparian Reserve for a few hours, chatting, catching up, and getting to know each other again. I had planned to take her out for dinner but I had taken too much time talking with her that most places were almost closed. We ended up getting tacobell of all things. In spite of the silly first date dinner, it was easily the best date I’d ever been on up to that point. After that day, we were pretty much inseparable. I’d stop by her place everyday after work and spend my evenings with her making dinner and watching movie and TV shows. I fell in love with that beautiful woman. I fell harder than I’ve ever fallen before. Everyday was better than the next, and eventually, I knew that I wanted to ask her to marry me. That brings us to just about where we are now. Of course, not to forget that I proposed to my lovely girlfriend March 14, 2026 at 6:51 PM, in California at the Sunset Cliffs Natural Park. I was thrilled she said yes! I can’t wait to continue my journey with my, now finance, soon to be bride, Caitlin Christine Henderson.