Our story began October 4, 2015, outside an NYU fraternity party. Emma was perfectly content—sitting on the apartment building stairs reading a book—until William joined her. Emma felt an instant, undeniable pull, and somehow just knew that William would be part of her life forever. There was, however, one slight inconvenience... she was dating someone else at the time. A few days later, a planned coffee "date" turned into three hours of easy conversation and laughter. We walked away as friends, beginning a five year chapter of “almosts”—dating other people, moving to different cities, and always there for one another. Even after William graduated and moved to Washington, D.C., our connection only grew. Every trip back to New York included time together, no matter how short the visit. Everything changed in January 2021, when Emma learned that William would soon be moving back to Kansas. Realizing she couldn’t keep her feelings hidden any longer, she booked a last minute train to D.C. and, finally, told him the truth. (That she was in love with him!) William still moved to Kansas, but this time, distance didn’t stand a chance. We visited each other across state lines and time zones, a long weekend in Denver while William road-tripped across the mountain west, weekends at his family’s lake house in Louisiana, and filling the months with trips back and forth to New York. That July, for Emma’s birthday, William flew to New York. What she didn't know: He only had a one way ticket (and two suitcases)—and he simply never left. From there, life moved quickly in the best possible way. We moved in together, got engaged in March 2024, relocated to Kansas so William could begin law school, and added the sweetest new family member—our beloved dog, Anna. An unexpected conversation outside a party became a friendship, then a love story, and now a lifetime.