The Story of Avery and I began eight years ago in the Elkhorn High School choir room. We met each other with a handshake and a nervous smile as our friend Ben introduced us. From there our friendship blossomed with Avery asking for my Snapchat a short time later so that we could start a streak. To this day that streak has only been lost once, intentionally. We spent the rest of our freshman year of high school crushing hard and becoming each other’s best friend. Our first date came early in the spring on March 21, 2018. We had a night at the movies watching The Black Panther with our parents dropping us off at the door! I spent the entirety of that movie nerding out while Avery’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as I explained the how entire Marvel Universe ties to the film. We didn’t become official for a few months as we were wrapping up school and I played my very important freshman baseball season…. Then Avery turned fifteen and my mom helped me come up with the best birthday gift I’ve ever given that brought us to where we are. Avery opened up an umbrella wrapped and given to her from fourteen year old Josh in front of all of our friends wondering what the heck is this. Little did she know, inside the umbrella was two tickets to Singing In The Rain at the Omaha Community Playhouse. It was on that day, June 7, 2018, that Avery and I became boyfriend and girlfriend by making it official on a bench after the musical while waiting for my dad to bring us home. We held hands the entire car ride home! So there we were, fourteen and fifteen years old, our first real relationship we thought. Little did we know that it would be our only one! We spent our sophomore year giddy with excitement and new experiences that a relationship brings. We had our first date to a school dance, spent month anniversaries with our siblings, said I Love You without knowing for sure what that wholly meant, and celebrated our first year with Runza and a lake day. From there our story only grows. Eight whole years of experiences, both good and bad. We spent the rest of high school making all of the memories of proms, Covid, our first family vacations, coffee dates before school, sitting next to each other in every class we could. We never wanted those years to end with all of the joy that filled them.

We never expected our relationship see hardship because we honestly were blessed to not face a lot of it. This changed when college hit. We went separate ways for the first time in our relationship. Avery started her post high school life on a six month mission learning about how God blesses His creation and spreading His love and the gospel to unreached parts of the world. Starting in Hawaii then traveling to Albania, we were met with a slap in the face from the separation. I headed to Minnesota while Avery traveled the world. With this decision there was never a thought going in about what our future might be. We took it head on knowing that we supported each other and loved each other and the God had a plan for our lives. I would be lying if I said that these six months were not that hard. We learned intentionality and communication skills that I only helped bring us together while we were apart. Coordinating movie nights and FaceTimes became a must when they use to be a spur of the moment. Marco Polo and picture updates shared details of our days from Avery’s paradise and freezing apartment to my snowy winter and small town life. These moments are some that we both will always remember because our future makes it worth it. Nothing was sweeter than the reunion. I will NEVER forget the feeling in my stomach as I walked up the stairs of the Grand Stay in Morris after my practice where Avery was waiting for me. Six long months and we had not seen each other once. The feeling of giddy nervousness times 1000; it is literally inexplicable. I knocked on the door and heard Avery run to answer. As the door flew open I jumped her with joy and we embraced each other for what felt like hours. We had overcome what was a daunting step in our relationship. But this would not be the last time we were apart. We spent the next three years battling long distance and the challenges that came with it. Avery’s Jeep would be the first one to tell you just how hard that time was. Because of the shared challenge that long distance was for us, our love for each other reached depths that I could’ve only dreamed of in our past. We understood what it was like to yearn for each other’s presence and laughter. My favorite part of each reunion we had for those years was that first hug. I love hugs and I especially love hugs with my favorite person in the entire world. That first moment together each time reminded us why that season of distance was all worth it. We cherished the little things in a deeper way than before. We communicated our feelings wholly when we were met with conflict or something felt off. We found new ways to spend time together when we were apart with FaceTime dinner dates and Fortnite gaming sessions. We supported each other in everything that we were doing. I will never be able to thank Avery enough for the amount of miles she traveled to visit me when I was not able to visit her. She spent many long drives and late nights to give us quality time that we desperately needed. She embraced where I went to school and we both made amazing memories together in those times she visited. Avery never made me doubt that what were we doing wasn’t going to work. She never made me wonder what it would be like if long distance never happened. She was reassuring and supportive through every challenging time. While our long distance was truly the hardest four years of my life, it was also the best four years of my life and none of it would have been possible without Avery.

Now to our best reunion: our LAST reunion. Nothing has been sweeter than to come home after graduating from Morris. I get to spend time with my family and friends in the city that I love. Most importantly, I get to be with Avery every single day that I can. Those first moments together in Omaha felt surreal. We did all of our favorite things right away. Dinner at Margarita’s. Coffee at To The Brim. Late night Taco Bell runs. Hanging at The Neighber’s. We moved so fast to enjoy everything we could and savor those moments we felt like we missed out on. We spent a summer making memories like we had in the past, but this time no one had to leave at the end. August hit and we both looked at each other with questioning looks of what the heck. We finally get to stay together year round. THIS IS AMAZING. This last reunion was the icing on the cake to our long, growing love story. We could not have gotten to where we are today without the things that we have had to overcome and the things that we have gotten to experience together. I am forever grateful for Avery and our relationship and I am deeply in love with her. I am so excited that we get to share our special day with everyone that we love in our home that we love. We are both so grateful to have had a steadfast support system.