I met Eric in the Summer of 2022 when we were both in a backyard production of the Tempest. I loved his performance as Caliban and I was instantly attracted to him. The following November we ran into each other at our mutual friend Zach Onorati’s wedding and sat together. After witnessing him bleed on a Martinelli’s bottle, trying to open it with his bare hands and then munch on eucalyptus centerpieces to identify their genus, I knew had fallen for him. I reached out over Instagram and gave him my number. We texted for a few months, mildly getting to know each other, but when I asked him if he would be interested pursuing things beyond texting, he said no. I was angry and sent him a fiery text essay. Months later, he gave me an earnest apology for what happened between us. We agreed to be civil and kind to each other from then on and got cast in the 2023 production of Cinderella together (thankfully not as the Prince and Princess). During rehearsals, we navigated the waters of our complicated feelings toward each other while doing our best to be polite and set a good example as adult cast-mates. It was something. But even through all the emotion, I saw what I had always seen in Eric and what made me fall for him in the first place — his good attitude, his love of people, his sense of humor, his genuine friendship with his mother, his enormous brain, and of course his immense talent. I knew he was a quality person whether or not he wanted to be with me and I decided I could really be friends with him. The Winter after Cinderella we had kind of fallen back into texting again, but the tone coming from Eric was different from before: more affectionate, more curious about me as a person. It was thrilling and nerve-wracking, but I decided I wouldn’t let it go on too long this time before I asked him for clarity. So at the end of January we scheduled a phone call in which Eric proceeded to tell me everything that I had ever wanted to hear from him: that he thought about me all the time, that he saw me as a quality person and was attracted to me, that he saw a future with me. So on January 30, we went on our first date, and the rest is history. Eric was the very best boyfriend and made it the easiest thing in the world for me to accept his dreamy August 25th proposal. When I think about all the twists and turns that led to our happy ending and prepared our hearts to love each other the way we do now, I can only express that we are truly blessed.

Tesia and I met doing Shakespeare. We've done three community theatre summer shows together. At rehearsals for The Tempest in 2022, we got to know each other enough to make it awkward when we did Cinderella in 2023, and then we made it awkward for our castmates in One Stoplight Town in 2024. In 2022, I moved from Iowa to be closer to family. I rolled into town and unpacked my car at my friend/landlords house and before I went to my first rehearsal that night, Alex mentioned that I should be looking out for his friend Tesia who was also in the Tempest. I failed to register the romantic potential of the tip at the time. A theme for later in the story. After the show, Tesia and I interacted through mutual friends and our theatre show people. Though I knew what was happening when she gave me her number and showed a lot of interest in me, I wasn’t on board and told her so in the callous text form. Tesia’s response impressed me by calling me out for my malaise and nonchalance in an authentic and interesting way. While spending the better part of a year repairing some of the damage I’d done, I got to learn to appreciate the special things about Tesia: her empathy for others, her insight and perspective on life. My interest grew and grew until I resolved to ask her out, luckily she reached out first before I could chicken out. With a lot of emotional baggage lifted, we had a lovely first date at Olive Garden and Tesia has been easy to love. We got engaged on August 25th. I remember the date because it's the same day of the month as Christmas and falling asleep the night before felt like I was a giddy boy on Christmas eve. A home with her will be filled with plants, books, laughter, and prayer. Yummo...that sounds good to me.