The first night I met Ben, in 2018, I almost didn’t leave the house. I was feeling anxious about going to a Friendsgiving where I didn’t know who would all be there. In the end, my friend Gaia convinced me to go and I have never been more grateful. From the very end of our first conversation, I knew he had me; hook, line, and sinker (pun intended). Ben made me laugh so hard that every bit of nervousness simply melted away. The very next day, he took me out for ice cream. We came home and watched a Bigfoot documentary…followed by another Bigfoot documentary. And just like that, the rest is history. Every weekend after Christmas break, I would make the drive from La Crosse to Madison just to see him. When Ben first came with to our families cabin’s in Fence, Wisconsin, he signed on to braving a three hour car ride with my parents. That drive showed me that he was the one. Jack, our family dog, knew it too. Every morning, no matter how early, those two would head down to the lake to fish together. That first trip sparked the start of many more, including the day he proposed to me, on that same lake, with all my family there. Getting to know Ben has made me a better, braver, more adventurous person. I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives exploring new places side by side, and tracking down every Bigfoot documentary we can find.

Casey and I grew up in the same small town in Wisconsin and both attended Fond du Lac High School at the same time, but our paths never crossed. I was the classic high school football player, caught up in the Friday night lights and the social whirl of the “popular” crowd. While Casey was the thoughtful bookworm who spent her weekends scaling rock faces, she was chasing adventure in a completely different world. We were like two parallel lines; close enough to share the same hallways, but never quite intersecting. Fast forward to college. I was studying at UW–Madison, while Casey was thriving at UW–La Crosse. Different campuses, different lives; Madison’s bustling energy versus La Crosse’s river-bluff charm. Then came the holidays during our sophomore year. We were both back home in Fond du Lac for break, and a mutual friend invited us to the same Friendsgiving party, a laughter-filled gathering of old high school classmates turned college kids home for turkey and pie. I still remember the moment I saw Casey across the room. There was something instantly magnetic about her; quiet confidence, a quick smile, and eyes that sparkled when she talked. We ended up talking for hours, surprised at how easy it felt, how much we had in common despite our different high school worlds. The next day, still buzzing from the night before, we grabbed ice cream at Kelley’s Creamry and settled in to watch a gloriously cheesy Bigfoot movie, complete with terrible special effects and plenty of laughs. It was casual, fun, and somehow perfect. By the time the credits rolled, I knew this wasn’t just a random holiday meet up. The rest, as they say, is history. What started as a chance encounter at a Friendsgiving turned into late night talks, road trips between Madison and La Crosse, shared dreams, and eventually a proposal. From opposite ends of the high school cafeteria to planning a life together. Sometimes the best stories are the ones that take a few years (and a Bigfoot movie) to begin.