Dannah and I fatefully met each other at the beginning of graduate school at Western Colorado University. I had embarked on this new journey with the intention to see a new but also familiar part of my home state, play outside as much as possible and find a new community of like minded people. I could have never have imagined that on my first day in Gunnison I would lay eyes on the most gorgeous woman that I have ever seen in my life. From my first glimpse at Dannah, across a patio at our first graduate cohort meeting, I knew that I wanted to have her in my life. Early the next morning I saw an empty seat next to Dannah. I was too nervous to take it. She was gorgeous and I had this feeling that she could eat me alive. Every morning for the next week I tried to work up the nerve to sit next to her and introduce myself but alas, the nerves got to me every time. Finally I sat next to her. Instead of introducing myself like a normal personal, I just blurted out a comment on her water bottle sticker which showed that she had been one of my favorite restaurants in Boulder. That was my introduction. After a moment of awkwardness I had introduced myself to her and she had returned the favor. We were friendly enough but I tried to keep my cool and not blow my cover. Within the next few months we had started to get to know each other as we had both started to settle into life in Gunnison. I had strategically gotten into a few project groups with Dannah and we started to spend more time together. After about six months of knowing one another we had become each others best friend in Gunnison. Finally, with few bottles of liquid courage, I had to told her that I had feelings for her. To my surprise Dannah had explained that she too shared the attraction. For some reason that now makes no sense to me, we had decided not to pursue a relationship. A few weeks later we had found each other in passing and decided why the hell not. We have been together at each others side ever since and have never had a hiccup in our relationship. Whatever that reason was for not trying the relationship in the first place, it clearly was never going to stop us.

I first remember Nate sitting next to me in one of our graduate classes at 8:00a. He slid into the chair next to me, cool & collected. I remember how early it was because because I hadn’t yet drank my coffee, but he boldly decided to break the ice with me anyways, even though I probably grunted a response back at him. His opening line was “Mountain Sun - nice!”, as he pointed to a brewery sticker on my hydro flask. From that moment, no matter where we were for class or in social settings, I could almost always look up and there Nate was, standing next to me! Over the next few months, we formed a fast and deep friendship. (I later learned that this was mostly due to design - he was purposefully switching class sections to be able to spend more time with me!). One of my favorite memories of Nate during our beginnings was him always skateboarding me home from wherever I happened to be so I wouldn’t get “Gunnison-murdered”. He became, and still is, one of my best friends. Nate is the kindest, most loving, most forgiving, and most gentle souls I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Not to mention it’s a rare day if we don’t find ourselves cracking up together at each other’s silliness. When our feelings finally came to light, we first decided that it wasn’t going to work between us! We were in two very different stages of life, and I could already see how it wouldn’t work out. A few weeks later, while desperately trying to remain friends after knowing our feelings for each other, Nate stood in front of me and told me we were foolish to not at least try to see where life might take us if we gave a relationship a chance. That chance is the best decision I have ever made.