6.27.26

We were thirteen when we became each other's first boyfriend and girlfriend and each other's very first kiss, courtesy of a certain now bridesmaid, who forced us together. We were painfully shy, barely able to even look at each other. It wasn't going very well when, in a twist of fate, we were locked in a room forced to interact. After a long awkward silence, we finally had a real conversation and talked for what seemed like hours. The night culminated in our very first kiss...puppy love at its finest. Still, as with life (and most teenage romances) everything must end. We parted ways and decided to become friends, who then became separate adults on two different journeys of life. In the next decade, we lived out our lives unknown to each other. We loved, we hurt, we grew, and we learned. With each new heartbreak, we prayed that fate would someday send the right person along. Little did we know that fate had always been watching. Almost twelve years later, we reconnected by chance. We were thirty, yet felt like we both had lived multiple lifetimes. We should have been two complete strangers, but it was the opposite. We felt like two old friends coming back to a conversation we had left unfinished. The years had changed us, but the connection that first sparked our teenage hearts was undoubtedly there. After an indie concert, several tiki drinks, and even a second "first" kiss, we realized that the person we had been searching for had been there since the beginning. From 13 to 30...to the rest of our lives.