We first met when...well, honestly we don’t really know! In Spring 2012, Faith went down to Charlottesville to interview for the Jefferson Scholarship. John, a first-year student at the time, knew to look out for “Garrett Lyons’s younger sister.” If we’d known that the first introduction was the meeting of future husband and wife, we probably would have paid more attention, but we never could have guessed how it would all work out! When Faith matriculated to UVA, she remembers a meeting in a lawn room among students interested in public service -- John was there, doing his best to distract the room from anything productive. The two locked eyes from across the room and... ...became good friends for the rest of college. John frequently asked Faith to swipe him into first-year dining halls, and occasionally we'd go out to breakfast or study together for finals. Or, at least, Faith would study and John would order takeout. The friendship grew and by the end of college, a definite spark had been lit to... ...keep their friendship solidly intact after John graduated and moved to DC. They kept in touch as Faith finished her fourth year and John made a special trip down to be at her graduation. There, he met her parents for the first time and you could tell that he and Faith were definitely… …going to keep in touch and remain friends while she transitioned to life in Atlanta. And we did! After reconnecting at the Jeff Scholars’ alumni reunion in October 2016, Faith mentioned that she’d be in DC in December. John offered to pick her up at the airport and go to dinner, so the two FINALLY… …simply went to dinner in DC. Faith visited again in February and May and was serendipitously staffed on a project in DC until October. Faith joined John’s intramural volleyball team and dinners together were much more frequent. Faith invited John to Delaware for a weekend at the beginning of July, and by the time the fireworks went off in DC a few days later to celebrate the Fourth...

….we were finally dating! And watching the fireworks together from the top of the ol’ houseboat. Following a mere ~5.3 years as friends, we made the best decision of our lives. And so began the wonder of long-distance dating, largely sponsored by Delta Airlines. It’s impossible to chronicle everything that’s happened since beginning long distance. It’s like every weekend has been a vacation, and at our peak, we owned over 9 toothbrushes between the two of us spread all over the East Coast… John’s first trip to Atlanta was for Faith’s 24th birthday, and it became clear to him why she loved it there so much. Weekends in DC were initially centered around the houseboat - both figuring out how many guests were too many guests for “Don’t Sink the Boat” parties, and spending nights and weekends renovating the boat top to bottom. Hectic weekend travel continued in between -- Colorado Springs for a work event, NYC to watch Meghan run a marathon (!!!), sharing their first Christmas split between Delaware with Faith’s family and John’s family’s farm in southern VA, and more. They visited Chapel Hill to see Patrick and celebrate Easter, joined the Adler Family in Punta Cana for a week in the sun, and visited Reed and Shaina in Boston as Faith decided to attend Harvard Business School. Four days of driving several hundred miles later that July, she was moving up to Boston and Delta got replaced by American Airlines… Weekends in Cambridge were spent enjoying countless dinner parties (and even more countless glasses of wine) with new HBS friends. After Faith’s first round of finals, we spent 5 days on a roadtrip across the Southwestern USA -- seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time and crossing a few more states off in our joint quest to hit all 50.

It’s been the adventure of a lifetime, and John knew that he wanted it to continue forever, so… ….On June 29, 2019, which coincidentally is John’s parents’ wedding anniversary AND Faith’s grandparents’ wedding anniversary, following a morning workout class, Faith discovered an mp3 player next to a note while getting ready for her day. John’s voice guided her over 9 tracks, leading her through getting ready, leaving the house, and walking through the streets of Capitol Hill to end up in Lincoln Park, where he was waiting with a ring. John had orchestrated fake plans with friends for the whole weekend, so Faith was caught entirely off guard! He got down on one knee and asked his best friend to spend the rest of their lives together. We can’t wait to celebrate with all of the friends from every stage of our adventure together on July 18, 2020, in Charlottesville, where it all began! Much love, John and Faith