i love you to jupiter and back

We met on Tinder. To be fair, when we were using Tinder in Fall 2016, it was still an actual dating app and not what it is today. It was what everyone in Columbia was using to go on dates! Dana was in her third year at Stephens College and Hayden was a Sophomore at Mizzou. Dana's profile said she was looking for a date to her sorority's semi-formal. Hayden loves a good (read: free) party, so he messaged her, and after awhile offered to be her date. We decided we needed to go on a real date before, so we planned a date for the week before at Shakespeare's Pizza, then went to a movie at the Citizen Jane Film Festival that Dana needed to see for a class. That movie was horrible, so we picked up Dana's dog Cookie, jumped in the car, and went back to Hayden's place to watch a better one. Some chaos ensued with Cookie and the cat, Oreo, at Hayden's apartment, but thats a story for another time. We ended up going to that semi-formal, and had a lot of fun! That was the first time Hayden ever heard Dana sing, and Dana was able to make Hayden dance to one song. We hung out a few times after that dance, then lost touch for awhile. Then comes July 2017. Dana was in Las Vegas for an internship and Hayden was home in Missouri. We started talking again, and by the time we were back at school, we were talking everyday and starting to see each other more often. Dana was graduating at the end of December 2017 from Stephens College, then was headed to Northwestern University in Evanston, IL for a 1-year grad program. We had a lot of conversations about what to do - and our decision was to be in a long-distance relationship. So for the entirety of 2018, Dana and Hayden kept their relationship alive by texting, calling, facetime-ing, and periodic visits. Hayden also introduced Dana to co-op video games, so they also spent a lot of time with each other virtually. It was hard, but they made it through stronger. The true test of our relationship was when Dana was hospitalized for 3 days in 2019 due to her battle with Crohn's Disease. Dana had just moved to St. Louis and didn't have any of her family or friends nearby to be with her - that's where Hayden and his family really stepped up. Alison and Grant came to the hospital and were with Dana when she was admitted. And while Dana's mom and sister were driving down from Chicago, Hayden sped home from Columbia to be at Dana's side. That evening, when it was just us left in the hospital room, we made a pact: we are in this together, and no matter what happens, we will always love each other. Things have changed for the better so much since then. First off, Dana is in remission! We survived the COVID-19 pandemic, adopted another cat, been there for each other during the loss of family and friends, bought a house, and fallen more in love with each other everyday. Hayden asked me to be his wife on August 4th, 2023 in Green Lake, WI, our favorite place in the world. It's been a long road to this day and we have worked so hard to get here. We can't wait to celebrate our love with each and every one of you. Thank you for being a part of our love story. Now let's party!