Our story is proof that sometimes love just needs a second chance… and maybe a lunch break. Colton and I first crossed paths on a dating app. At the time, he tried to start a conversation, and I… well, I ghosted him. Life went on, but clearly fate wasn’t finished with us yet. About six months later, we matched again. This time it was on Bumble, and this time things were different. It turns out second time really is the charm. For our first date, we met at Harvest Hall. Technically, it should have happened about two weeks sooner, but February is hog hunting season, so I had to wait until March 1st. When we finally did meet, we were both shy, a little awkward, and not exactly great at conversation, but there was something about him I couldn’t ignore. He was the kindest person I had ever met, and that alone made me want to give it another chance. After that, most of our early dates were quick lunch dates during his one hour breaks. Somehow, even with such a short amount of time, everything felt easy and natural, and time always flew by. Because of this, my family quickly gave him the nickname “Lunchy,” and it stuck. As our relationship grew, so did our adventures, especially the ones involving animals since we are both such big animal lovers. For our first anniversary, we went to Oak Meadow Ranch and stayed in an Airbnb that looked into Puzzles the giraffe’s enclosure. We even got to do an animal encounter where we hugged and held a sloth, which was just as amazing as it sounds. For our second anniversary, we spent the day at the Fort Worth Zoo, continuing what had clearly become our tradition of celebrating with animals we love. By our third anniversary, we took a trip to Fredericksburg, Texas, where we visited a winery and went on a safari tour. During a giraffe encounter, in front of Jeffrey the giraffe, Colton got down on one knee and asked me the easiest question I’ve ever answered. From a missed connection to a perfectly timed second chance, everything with Colton has felt so easy, so natural, and so meant to be. I am so grateful I didn’t miss him twice.