Love Story It all started with Facebook... Once upon a frosty December in 2022, our paths crossed and changed our lives for the better. Having relocated a year prior to Charlotte from Florida, Lydia was focused on her nursing career while settling into the tranquility of the Queen City. A year later, Daniel also made the move to Charlotte from New Jersey to advance his engineering career. Until our lives collided, thus beginning our story. While using Facebook to find social events, we connected and realized we should explore the city together. Being that it was December and cold, this proved to be a great feat. Not knowing that leaving our respective homes to brace the winter cold will kick off a love story that would keep us warm for years to come. We met for dinner and as great conversation ensued, we realized we wanted to continue this meet up. And so, we turned our dinner meet and greet into a charming date at a speakeasy dessert bar. We shared endless laughs and hours of conversation. We wrapped up the evening sad knowing that we would be returning to our hometowns for Christmas and would not be able to see each other until the new year– yet elated at the feeling that this could be something special and blessed– something worth waiting for. Once back in Charlotte for the new year, we began exploring a friendship with the intention of it blossoming into something more. A month later, we knew that with our shared values, similarities and differences, we felt deeply for one another to indeed choose to grow in love. Once official, our days became filled with all the little things we hoped to find in a partner. Balancing a difference in schedules as Lydia worked night-shift, we turned mundane chores and errands into shared adventures that allowed us to enjoy the simple pleasure of each other’s company. From grocery shopping to Netflix binges of period dramas, African movies, One Piece and our guilty pleasure “Ready to Love”, everything felt a bit more special now that we were together and could share commentaries. In September 2024, while at dinner with Lydia’s longest friend and her husband, Daniel was moved to use this opportunity as the perfect time for the grand gesture he had been planning for since May. With the Charlotte skyline as our backdrop, he got down on one knee and popped the question. Now, we’re gearing up for our happily ever after as we get ready to say, “I do”, to begin the next chapter of our love story, side by side, with God at the center.