As most of you know, Dean is a firefighter and I am a paramedic—both for nearly 30 years. We met the way so many first responders do: on a 911 call. Dean was helping me load a patient into the ambulance. He was guiding the front of the stretcher while I pushed from behind. At one point, Dean stopped and turned around—but being too short to see over the patient, I didn’t realize he had stopped and kept pushing… straight into him. The injury definitely made an impression (on both of us). Over the years, we remained friends, crossing paths on various calls. Eventually, Dean was transferred to a slower station, and we didn’t see each other much for a while. Then one day, we ran another call together and reconnected on Facebook. With Dean’s gentle persistence, I finally gave in and agreed to go on our first date. Not long after, Dean moved to Waco—and from that point on, we’ve been inseparable ever since.