Oh boy, this is a story!! I have known Harry since before I can remember. The earliest I can recall from pictures is that he was at my two-year-old Nemo-themed birthday party (see our picture gallery for reference). We have quite literally grown up together and I wouldn't have it any other way. Over the years, both of our moms were always "scheming" for ways they could pair the two of us together. For a long time, their efforts never surpassed the occasional quick snap of a picture at a school dance or family function before we would then part ways. Harry and I became best friends at the beginning of our sophomore year of high school. We remained this way until December of 2022, heading into our second semester of junior year of college. I had a crush on him for as long as I could remember so finally, in November of 2022 after going to a football game with him at the University of Maryland, I sent him a message and asked him if he thought we would always be "just friends". That sprung a whole series of conversations between the two of us regarding a relationship. Harry then asked me to be his girlfriend on December 29th, 2022 and the rest is history!

I guess I should start at the very beginning, when two-year-old Harry went to a birthday party and met his wife. For the next 20 years, Rachel and I were always in the same friend group but that was pretty much it. We'd grow closer, then not see each other for a bit, but she was always there and we never lost touch. During the summer leading into our junior year of college, there were a lot of times when we would do things just the two of us if our other friends were busy. At first, I didn’t think too much of it, but after a while, I found myself texting just Rachel instead of our group, hoping that she would say yes to hanging out with only me. I knew I liked her, but didn’t know if she was thinking the same thing or how I could bridge the gap from friends to dating. She drove down to UMD for a football game in the fall, and again it was just the two of us hanging out together. When she got home that night, she sent me a text asking what my thoughts were about the two of us and what direction we were heading in. After a couple of conversations and a (very easy) decision later, I asked her to be my girlfriend and the rest is history!