Before I was even old enough to form memories, my parents moved to Thoroughbred Drive in Branchburg, New Jersey. I cannot say for certain exactly when Niki and I first met, but sometime around when I was in the second or third grade the original owners of the home across from my sisters, parents, and me on Thoroughbred Drive moved away. Shortly afterward, though the memories are only blurs now, I met a little girl with brown hair and light eyes. Though we were young, we soon developed a mutual, G-rated crush, fell deeply in love, and the rest, as they say, is history. Just kidding. Niki, an effortless extrovert and a natural-born people person, first befriended my three younger sisters and led them into legendary amounts of trouble. Though Niki and I were initially friendly, by the time I started high school, there existed a respectful mutual dislike for one another. I, two grades Niki’s senior but with the social intelligence of a rock, took every opportunity to tease and bother my sisters’ younger friend whenever I saw her at our house, swim team, or marching band practice (cool, I know). Some years passed, and later as a sophomore at Rutgers University, I learned that Niki would be joining the incoming freshman class that fall. A master pick-up artist, I texted her “Happy Birthday” that year, and told her I was excited that she was thinking of coming to Rutgers. I imagine she was confused, more than anything else, as to why the guy who had never shown any interest in her in the past was reaching out now, but she kept replying to my texts, and we finally started dating her freshman year of college. After countless meals together in the dining hall, long walks on Cook campus, and late nights in the library together, we fell deeply in love, and the rest, as they say, is history. Ah, got you again! Our college relationship was not meant to last; we amicably separated during Niki’s senior year. I set my sights on New York and medical school, she moved to Boston to become a PA, and though I never felt like I completely let her go, years went by without a single “Happy Birthday” text between us. After finishing PA school, Niki returned to Thoroughbred Drive to stay with her parents, and with clinical rotations on pause during the worst parts of the pandemic, I did the same. I remember seeing that same girl with brown hair and light eyes across the street from me. I reached out to her again in 2021 - though the exact details of the text escape me, it was marginally more romantic than the fateful “Happy Birthday” text circa 2013 - and despite fully appreciating the risks of giving us a second chance, we went on our second first date. We fell deeply in love, and the rest, they say, is history.