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Our Love Story Some love stories begin with a chance encounter. Ours began with a school bus. Iris and I first met in elementary and middle school, sitting side-by-side on the bus without having any idea that one day we’d be planning a wedding together. Life did its thing, time moved on, and years passed—until May of 2021, when fate (and social media) brought us back into each other’s orbit. I saw her online and immediately thought, Yep… that’s the one. Gotta shoot my shot. So I did… and she instantly played hard to get. Instead of giving me her number, she handed over her Snapchat like a true professional. But after a few messages (and realizing I wasn’t going anywhere), she gave me her number. Victory. Not long after, she showed up to see me—I had a hangover and she bought me a bag of remedies! It was our first time seeing each other since middle school, and somehow it felt both brand new and incredibly familiar. We sat in the car for hours, talking about everything and nothing, as if we were racing to make up for all the years in between. When it was time for her to leave for an event, she still insisted on bringing me to her house first… and yes, she was late. Absolutely worth it. From that day on, we didn’t really want to go a day without each other. Weeks went by, our connection deepened, and even during her time away for military training, we found our way back into each other’s arms—stronger than before. On August 6, 2021, Iris took me on a date to Buffalo Bayou Park in Downtown Houston. We didn’t know it then, but that spot would become one of the most important places in our story. Months later, in that very same park, with the city behind us and our entire future ahead, Iris got down on one knee and asked me to marry her. And just like back on that school bus, sitting side-by-side felt like the most natural thing in the world.