Elizabeth and Larry met July 28, 2018. It was a brief and somewhat awkward encounter, but Larry was immediately taken by Elizabeth. They met through Larry’s housemate, Daniel Ramirez, with whom Elizabeth had been friends since their days in Austin earlier in the decade. Elizabeth needed a place to crash for a few weeks while doing a clinical rotation in Waco. Daniel and Larry had a spare room. Over the month, Elizabeth and Larry became friends, and they continued to get to know each other from afar throughout the fall. Their mutual love of music, wry humor and philosophical depth provided fertile ground for them to assist each other (although, rather unknowingly at the time) through the pangs of life each was experiencing.

As the calendar turned to 2019, Elizabeth and Larry each sensed the possibility of significant life changes ahead; however, neither knew what those changes would be or that these changes would lead them to each other. Elizabeth returned to Waco for another clinical rotation in mid-January. Larry, knowing he had developed feelings for Elizabeth, avoided her at all costs. Eventually, the avoidance was futile, and they began spending time together as friends. As life shifted for them individually, their steps were coming closer together. They began discussing the possibility of a relationship—aware of the potential pitfalls therein. While on a discussion-laden drive on a crisp Sunday afternoon in February, they happened upon a remote field outside Gatesville, Texas, and stopped there to push the conversation deeper. It was a pivotal moment for the blossoming couple as each stared deeply into their own and each other’s fears. A few days later, they went their separate ways—Larry to Las Vegas and Elizabeth to League City. They decided to take some time apart to decipher feelings and intentions. Larry spent most of his time in Las Vegas exploring Eastern Nevada and Eastern California, including an afternoon of fervent prayer about Elizabeth and their potential relationship while at Death Valley National Park.

The time apart didn’t last nearly as long as either expected; Elizabeth and Larry were talking within a couple days and began to more deeply explore each other’s needs and modus operandi in a relationship. Larry visited Elizabeth in League City, Texas, the following weekend—one that was filled with pivotal conversations and seminal moments. After that weekend, Elizabeth and Larry were off and running, but with aspirations of the race being a marathon rather than a sprint. They spent most weekends together over the next few months, deepening their appreciation for each other, honing their communication skills and learning of the many ways in which they were blessed to have each other. There were bumps along the way, but before long, they knew it was indeed a marathon and not a sprint.

Elizabeth completed her master’s degree in physician assistant studies in mid-August. Two weeks later, she took the PA national boards while, unfortunately, battling a sudden breakout of poison ivy. (Nonetheless, she passed her boards.) Larry’s graduation gift to Elizabeth was a trip to Las Vegas with the intent of showing her some of the picturesque places he’s seen in that part of the country, including Zion National Park and, most poignantly, the spot at which he prayed that day in Death Valley. After church the morning of Sunday, Sept. 8, several hours before their flight to Las Vegas, the couple returned to the field along Greenbriar Drive outside Gatesville, Texas, where they gazed at their potential future together in February. Larry shared a song and some thoughts with Elizabeth before handing her a poem about the field. He asked her not to turn around until she finished reading it. Fire ants tried to thwart the moment, biting Elizabeth’s foot and forcing her to turn around before finishing the poem. Upon turning around, she saw Larry on one knee, ring box in hand, staring up at her. He shared some thoughts with her about their friendship, their relationship, their deep connection and their impact on each other’s lives before asking her to marry him. Through a deluge of joyful tears, Elizabeth said yes, and the happy couple embraced.

After the proposal, Elizabeth and Larry returned to Waco and had lunch with some friends at the restaurant where the two had dinner the first time they hung out alone as friends and where they had a late lunch after finding Greenbriar Field in February. Then, they were off to Las Vegas, announcing the news to friends and family along the way—and assuring everyone that they were not eloping while in Las Vegas. While driving back to Waco after the proposal, Elizabeth and Larry listened to a playlist of songs that were the most meaningful to the couple during the previous year. The sixth and final song was Tom Petty’s “You and Me,” which contains the line “Wherever that wind might blow, wherever that river rolls, you know I will be with you, just you and me, and the road ahead.” Part of Larry’s journey through his courtship of Elizabeth was laying aside his long-persistent need to know how the story ends. Finally, he began to understand that the story of he and Elizabeth has no end… it is a story with subsequent chapter after subsequent chapter that they will enjoy reading the rest of their lives. Elizabeth and Larry are thankful to have each of you in their lives, reading the book along with them, and enjoying the road ahead.