It was the first day of school when they met in Algebra II. Alex was a freshman and Brian, a sophomore. For Brian, it was love at first sight. They became fast friends who bonded over passed notes in class, cookie-brownies that Brian provided every time Alex mentioned being hungry, and OneRepublic’s Native album. Their friendship grew into best-friendship, and although Alex didn’t have romantic feelings for Brian in return, Brian patiently loved Alex and was her most faithful friend. He was there for her through every up and down. Upon graduating in 2015, Brian enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard and moved. Despite the distance, they kept in touch and remained good friends.

In January of 2018, Brian came back to visit Fort Worth, Texas while on leave. Before Brian’s visit home, Alex had briefly mentioned to him that she had trouble sleeping because of her issue finding a good pillow. When Brian showed up to hang out with Alex, he had two brand new pillows in his arms. Throughout all of their friendship in high school, small (and big!), considerate acts from Brian were something Alex just got used to, but she was shocked that after all of these years, he still cared enough to do something like that for her. They got coffee to catch up, but this time when he left, she found herself feeling really, really, sad. Alex, for the first time, looked at the gift Brian got her and began to process how much he loved her. As Alex reflected on their friendship, it was like everything finally hit her. Brian loved Alex so patiently and kindly. It was honestly the most Christlike love she had ever received from another person. Their relationship flourished. In June, Brian asked Alex to be his girlfriend, and she said yes.

It was June 23rd, and they had spent the entire day hiking at Arches National Park. They returned in the evening to stargaze. After spending 2 hours laughing and trying to show each other shooting stars, it reached midnight (their anniversary)! Right before leaving the park, Brian proposed. He then gave Alex a Bible which had “Alexandra Ariya Fuller” engraved on it; he had purchased the Bible engraved with her future name as a leap of faith before they even started dating. Alex cried a lot of happy tears and said yes. With that, they were engaged!