Welcome!

Growing up, dating was never an idea I was interested in. From middle school to college, my answer was always the same, “I’m too busy to date… school is more important!” Going into my senior year at Ithaca, I was praying to God a lot for reassurance and faith that I was following the right path. I didn’t know it at the time, but I found myself always praying the same prayer: “I pray that you bring me happiness and joy, and you put in my path whatever is meant to be.” In my final semester at Ithaca, Eli and I were cast as Phoebus and Esmeralda in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”. We weren’t necessarily friends just yet, but with only a month to put a show together, we became friends pretty quickly! Within that month, we shared anything and everything about our lives leading up to this point, and I loved every minute! Eli was so sweet, so fun to be around, and had the biggest heart of gold… we just clicked! I had never been part of a friendship where I could truly be myself, not to mention all of the things we had in common, so immediately, this friendship felt different. Finally, show day came, and we parted ways. The days after felt so empty because I was missing my favorite part of my day, Eli. I’ve never been one to make the first move (or at all), but I knew I had to see him again. So on Day 4 post-show, I decided to take a leap of faith and text him. That very next day, we saw each other for our first (unofficial) dinner date and took every chance after that to see each other before the end of the semester. The more time we spent together, the more I realized how special Eli was to me. With our end-of-year celebration coming up, or “Sherry” for my IC folks, I knew I wanted to do two things: tell Eli how I felt and spend my last college memory with him. The day finally came, one thing led to another, and at the end of the night, we shared our first kiss. At that point, there was no denying my feelings for Eli. I had never felt this way before. I was falling in love with him. After that, we saw each other every day for almost 2 weeks, soaking up the limited time we had together before graduation. On one of our last date nights, we decided to stargaze at one of Eli’s favorite spots (or what we now call “Our Hill”). After a playlist misunderstanding, Eli began to play a song from a playlist he made for me. I soon realized that each song was about love. “Does Eli love me?” I thought. In that moment, something came over me as if God himself was telling me not to hold back, and I knew I had to tell him how I felt, or I would never forgive myself. So, as I held him close, I looked him in the eyes, and as I began to say those 3 simple words, he said “I love you too”. In tears, I replied, “I love you so much.” That night, after just 2 weeks of dating, 21 years of never having a boyfriend, and praying to god, we said I love you... and the rest is history.

Before Erica and I met, I was at a low point in my life. In a moment of desperation, I promised God that I was done trying to date. I had been trying for so long and just couldn't seem to find the right person for me. If he had someone specially made for me, I trusted he would make it known, without a shadow of a doubt. This is where I was in life before we both began to get close in rehearsals for The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Ithaca College. She was a very talented and intimidating senior, and I was an awkward and nervous transfer student who had no idea what I was doing. From the very beginning, Erica stood out to me as someone who was different from everyone else. She cared for others more than anyone I had ever met and always seemed to have everything together. She was strong, mature, powerful, and yet had the awe-struck wonder of a child seeing the world for the first time. It’s important to note that the entire time Erica and I were in rehearsals, I was convinced she didn’t like me. I had heard a rumor from others that “sometimes people think Erica likes them, but she’s really just that nice to everyone.” Needless to say, I had 100% convinced myself she would never see me as more than just a friend, which made trying to ignore how interested I was in her a little easier. Fast forward two weeks, and we went to a party together where Erica told me she liked me. Never in a million years would I have thought someone as cool as her would like a nerdy dork like me. I was just in awe of her. After a week of spending every moment we could together, learning all the things we had in common, and discovering how significant God was in both our lives, we found ourselves on a date under the stars. As we gazed up at the beautiful night sky, listening to a playlist I had made for us, I heard her begin to stumble over her words, saying, “So, I have to tell you something. I don’t know if you feel the same way, but I would never forgive myself if I left without telling you that …” “I love you too,” I said, as happy tears began to fall down my face. “I love you so much”, she said. We hugged and cried, my heart fuller than it had ever been. That night, I was certain that she was my answered prayer, without a shadow of a doubt. She was the person God had made perfectly for me.