It’s difficult to answer when we first met. It could have been a golf tournament or class. What stands out to Ellie was the end of freshman year at an award’s ceremony where we ended up sitting close together because of our last names. We don’t remember much about the night itself, but Ellie remembers being a little surprised — Eric turned out to be a lot funnier (and definitely more sarcastic) than expected. A couple weeks later, we crossed paths again on the golf course. Ellie was playing golf with her dad when a single player behind them started catching up and it just so happened to be Eric. Ellie tried to play it off that she didn’t know him (to avoid a slightly awkward dad/daughter conversation) because she didn’t think he would say hi. To Ellie’s surprise, Eric passed by and said “Hi, Ellie!” and Ellie’s dad gave her a look. Eric remembers finding it funny that Ellie was pretending not to know him. Over the next couple of years of high school, we’d see each other occasionally in classes and at golf. Then, second semester senior year, we got seated next to each other in AP Stats (shoutout to Mr. Moser) and Ellie got asked to be the boys’ golf manager. Somewhere during that year, we both started to like each other, but neither one of us were really making any moves. Then, one Sunday, Ellie got a facetime from a golf teammate (shoutout to Avery) asking if Ellie would say yes if Eric asked her to prom. This came as a total surprise because we had only ever had a few casual conversations in class. In fact, our first text to each other was Eric confirming we were going to prom together (he did do a formal promposal as well). From there, we experienced all the excitement of prom being our first date while balancing golf season, graduation, and college life at IU on the horizon. From the very beginning, being together felt easy and like we’d known each other forever. We connected over our shared interests, values, faith, and what we wanted out of life. Somewhere pretty early along the way, it became clear that we couldn’t picture our futures without each other in them. Fast forward a few years, and Eric pulled off one more surprise — the proposal. Ellie thought she was just going to her parent’s house (in jeans and a sweatshirt) on a random Wednesday night to have dinner and carve pumpkins, but Eric had other plans. He’d hidden the ring inside a pumpkin the day before and had the proposal all planned out. It was the perfect reflection of us: unexpected, goofy, and sweet. Seven years after our senior prom, it’s hard to believe how fast time has flown. We’ve grown up together, supported each other, and truly become one another’s best friend. We’re so excited to celebrate this next chapter surrounded by the people who mean the most to us!