There's a cultural fixation on how couples first meet one another. Some couples have incredible stories of chance encounters, or adorable "meet cutes", or beautiful reconnections later in life, or something else delightful and memorable. We met at our jobs selling mid-tier shampoo in Cincinnati, Ohio. So there's that. Maybe it's circumstance or maybe it's conviction, but I believe the more important question is, "when did you first know?" When did you first know that the person you've only known for a short time is also the person you'll be with for a long time? I love the idea that it's not one moment but a culmination of moments that lead to people to falling in love. But I'm an absolutist! There's gotta be one singular moment where the trajectory of a relationship became destined for something more - right?! So here's when I knew: It was early Fall of 2019. Jeff and I had just finished a lovely evening out and about our quirky little Cincinnati, just the two of us indulging in food, drinks, and laughter. As we were headed home riding "Bird" scooters, we saw two strangers (who were clearly not accustomed to downtown Cincy) trying to cross a busy road. With a love for comedic absurdity and ignorance for roadway safety, we asked the strangers if they wanted help across the highway by "baby Birding" AKA holding on for dear life on the backs of our scooters. Without hesitation we all whipped across the multi-laned road and then, once safely on the opposite curb, traded our scooters for belly laughs. We parted ways with the suburbanites and then continued toward Jeff's apartment. In the final stretch, Jeff pulled out his AirPods and we each put one in to jam out with music as we meandered through the otherwise sleepy and vacant Washington Park. A favorite song came on (sorry don't ask me which, it's a late Saturday night 5 years ago!), and I immediately grabbed Jeff's hand to drag him up the gazebo central to the park. As we sang, and danced, and spun, and laughed under bright moonlight atop this center stage - there was a moment where our eyes met and the rest of the world fell away. While I may be blurry on specifics (I'm not sure if it was September or October, Taylor Swift or ABBA, midnight or 3am), there is one thing I'm sure of. In that joy-filled moment, for the first but not last time, I saw Jeff see me, and I thought, "I want to do this, with this person, for the rest of my life."