I met Becca at a play rehearsal during grad school in 2016. She was stepping in for another actor that had some choir activity conflict that prevented her from being in two performances. After that rehearsal, we all stuck around to do some set work. I started singing Taylor Swift's "Wildest Dreams," and immediately (I mean immediately) Becca looked at me, gasped, and said, "You know Taylor Swift?" We then started talking about how we wanted Chipotle and ice cream cake catered at our respective weddings. I thought she was really cute and tried to "subtly" let her know (she knew), but once she went to her MFA program I kinda threw that possibility out the door. We remained friends and would chitchat here and there, but we fully reconnected our friendship in summer 2019. We both went through our own respective rough patches in our lives, and talking to each other about our feelings and struggles really helped us. We talked every day for a few months; during that time, those "crush" feelings I had for her started to resurface, but I tried to push them back, as Becca made it clear we were just friends. After traveling to Greenville for a visit and going out on a date that didn't go as expected, Becca made a comment to me I would have had more fun if I went out with her. Curious (and honestly shocked), I asked if we could explore that a little bit; to my surprise (and more shock), she said we could. Becca gave me one of the best Christmas presents ever when she told me she liked me on Christmas eve. We started dating long distance on January 11, 2020, and we finally got to be with each other over Valentine's Day weekend a month later. We persevered throughout the pandemic and not being able to see each other for several months, and I asked her to marry me on August 2. I cannot wait to start our lives together and to finally put a permanent end to long distance!