We first met online while I was still living in Austin. Initially we didn’t have serious interest in dating each other. We were both dating other people at the time, but enjoyed each other’s banter and commentary. Trae offered to reintroduce me to Houston after being absent for a decade. Upon my return, I took him up on the offer. On the day of the summer solstice 2018, we met up at Simply Pho, enjoyed some tofu, and cracked open our fortune cookies. Mine read “Love conquers all.” I slipped it into my wallet as I do with most fortunes, but thought nothing of it. At this point I couldn't quite read Trae and didnt think he was interested, but we were having great conversation. We split the bill dutch and went off onto our next stop, Axelrad -Trae personally hated this place but thought I would enjoy the scene. And I did. I loved the weird Austin vibe and the colorful hammocks. As the night progressed, we began to sit closer together. By last call, we were sharing a hammock and laughing so hard we were in tears. The bar was closing, but we weren’t done exchanging stories. We walked around HCC campus for another hour or so. Trae walked me to my car and our conversation started to dwindle. I turned to open my door and saw a briefcase in my backseat left over from moving and I knew what I had to do. Unbeknownst to Trae, he was about to witness an amateur magic show in the middle of the street at 3 A.M. I grabbed my suitcase and started performing my best tricks. Please keep in mind I am a terrible magician and only perform for my students the last week of school. My bloody awful magic must have captivated Trae. He immediately and passionately kissed me after the performance. We have been inseparable ever since. And I still have the fortune - “Love conquers all.”