I met Michael through a young adults small group we were both a part of in August of 2018. I remember walking up to a friend of mine that Michael was talking to. I introduced myself, there was some small talk and I didn't really think twice about him. About a month later it was my birthday and I invited a few friends from small group including Michael to my house. Six days after my birthday was Michael's birthday, I wished him a happy birthday and asked what he had planned for his birthday. When I found out he had nothing planned, I invited some of his good friends over to celebrate him. A few days later we began sending each other voice memos and by the end of that week we were sending multiple voice memos to each other every day. The first time we hung out one on one was in my car after an open mic night. We shared about our past and our life experiences, it was so easy to talk with one another. A couple days later we met at a coffee shop and ended up talking about everything from hobbies to passions, God, and memes for 5 hours. We never ran out of things to talk about. Within the week, the two of us hung out 3 more times, and by that point I was definitely developing feelings for him. Another whole week of us talking every day passed while I was on a family vacation. The day after we got back, Michael asked me to do a photo shoot with him in the trails behind his neighborhood. After the photo shoot, we stopped by the playground where we had sat and talked before. We sat down and there was a long pause in our conversation, the only time where neither of us knew what to say. Finally, the silence broke, we shared our feelings for one another and we made it official.

I started coming to my church’s young adult ministry in June of 2018. After service one night, I was talking with some friends when I heard some laughter on the other side of the room. As the laughter got louder, I realized it was coming from a tall brunette who was joking around with two of her friends. I didn’t think too much of it, except that the girl was very loud. A few weeks later at a young adults small group, I was talking with an old friend when the very same tall brunette with the loud laughter walked toward us. He then introduced me to his friend from high school, Madison. Madison and I started to get to know each other in September around our birthdays, which are six days apart. We would meet for breakfast, go on walks, go to the movies, and just enjoy each other’s company. On days where we wouldn’t see each other, we’d use the voice memos app to record messages for each other. It got to the point where our messages were around 20 minutes each on average. As weeks went by and we spent more time together, feelings started to set in. I denied my feelings for a while but, as we left the movie theater one afternoon, I couldn’t ignore them anymore. On October 22nd, we planned to do a photo shoot by the Chattahoochee River. I guess I was feeling bold, because I remember taking her hand in mine as we moved locations. She didn’t pull away, look at me funny, or ask what I was doing, but she grabbed mine back with a slight smile. When it got dark, we sat on a playground near by and started talking as usual. After a few minutes, and for the first time since we met, neither of us had a word to say. After the longest minute, she breaks the silence and says, “So you kinda like me a lot, huh?” For those of you who know Madison, it shouldn’t surprise you how direct this was, but it caught me off guard! I replied, “Yeah I do, but it seems like you like me too.” She smiles and says, “Yeah I do.” And we started dating that very night!