Okay, no meet-cute here, but definitely a love story for the modern age. Cole and I met on Hinge—just as he was about to throw in the towel on online dating, I swooped in after giving up on the disaster my friends set up for me on Tinder. We instantly matched and kicked things off by bonding over our mutual love for history. And honestly, the rest is just… well, history."

After about a month of chatting on the dating app, Cole finally asked if I wanted to meet in person. I was nervous but figured, worst case scenario, I’d get a funny story out of it. Since it was December, our movie choices boiled down to a cheerful Christmas comedy or a Korean War film. Given our shared love of history, I confidently picked the war movie—clearly forgetting that war movies don’t usually scream romantic first date. Things were going great… until the ending absolutely crushed my soul. As the credits rolled, I sat there, tears streaming down my face, while Cole probably wondered if I was emotionally stable. We stopped at the entrance of the parking garage where I had parked, and instead of ending the date like normal people, we stood there locked in an extended Midwestern goodbye—full of “Well, I should go” moments that never actually led to leaving. Finally, Cole broke the cycle and asked, “Want to do something less sad?” I agreed, and somehow, that turned into forever.

It was a perfect spring day—warm, breezy, and full of love (and train show victories). After winning some ribbons at the Hostler Train Show photo contest, Cole asked if I wanted to take a walk. Hand in hand, we wandered up historic 25th Street, somehow ending up near the Megaplex Theater—where we had our first date. Coincidence? Maybe. Fate? Definitely. We stopped at a parking garage, the site of our first Midwestern goodbye (aka a 20-minute “Well, I should go” moment). As I rambled on, completely clueless, Cole suddenly hit me with a line from The Office, and pulled out a ring, and got down on one knee Was he really proposing in a parking garage next to a dumpster? Yes. Did I laugh, cry, and say yes anyway? Absolutely.