Hampton moved to Denver in August of 2019 ready for a change of pace. Having left behind his friends and family in the middle of the pandemic to be a part of a new church in the city, he was starting to find a new community and build relationships. Still, something was missing. Katie, on the other hand, was in nursing school in Kansas City, spending her time studying and fostering the friendships that would become important in the next stage of life. She downloaded a dating app earlier in the year and forgotten about it, soaking up time with her friends and family. She went on a ski trip with friends to Colorado in January, and left the app’s location feature on. When Hampton first saw Katie’s profile, he knew immediately that he had to talk to her. The picture he saw was of Katie in a red dress with her hair pulled away from her face, and a giant genuine smile. He swiped and sent a message. He hoped he was charming enough that she might respond back. She did not respond. Not for days. When she finally did, it was short, and he was left wracking his brain trying to figure out how to ask this girl out. He messaged once, and then again a couple of days later, embarrassed but hopeful. Katie finally responded and sounded interested, but through their conversation, they realized they actually lived far away from one another, about eight hours. Hampton was bummed, to say the least, and assumed that because of the distance, their desire to talk to one another would fizzle out. It never did. Every time they talked, they grew closer, more interested. Hampton felt like he had known her forever, and was shocked by how easy it was to talk to her. He proposed they do a Facetime date, finally getting to see each other, even if they were really far away. When the day of that first date came, he ran around trying to find a background that didn’t make him look like a loser, or a dork, and eventually settled on a blank wall. When Katie got off the phone, she knew she was in trouble. He was sweet, funny, handsome, and smart! They decided on another Facetime date and stayed up late into the night. He asked her to come visit, and she agreed. She drove to Denver for a weekend, updating her friends the whole way, still not totally certain he wasn’t secretly an axe murderer. He was sure there would be an adjustment period of awkwardness. He wasn’t a killer, and nothing was awkward. They spent the whole weekend laughing and going on dates and talking about everything, serious and ridiculous. From that weekend on, they spent most of their time trying to figure out how to have more weekends, and weeks, and months together. Every day together was spent laughing, talking, dating. By April Fool’s Day in 2020, they were in love. He fell for her because her smile never changed, and she fell for him because he was strong. And that was the beginning of their forever!