As I started the second year of my residency on night float, being the on-call resident overnight responsible for all things orthopaedics, I thought it might be a life-altering experience because of the challenge, the alone-ness, or the stress. It certainly was life altering, but for an entirely different reason: I met the love of my life. One day within the first week of this gauntlet of night calls, while walking back to the ortho lounge room, I took a quick glance into the adjacent lounge room and saw the most beautiful girl sitting at a computer, intensely focused on the screen. It was truly love at first sight. I was completely blown away with just a glance, but my first thought was, "There's no way that girl is single." Still, I knew I needed to meet her. And so later I wandered into that room and started a conversation with her and the two other residents working in the room, in an attempt to appear casual and cool (both of which I am not good at). As each night passed, I continued to find reasons to pop into that room to chat with them, but mostly with her. By the end of July, when it was time for her to transition to a different rotation, I was sad to see her go but glad I had made a fantastic new work friend. We ran into each other in the halls of Cleveland Clinic a few other times as the next months passed, having fun conversations each time. I once almost worked up the courage to ask her on a date, but instead chose to give her a fist bump (quality work there, past Alex). Finally, October came along, and I was scheduled to be on a particularly difficult Tuesday day call shift. I made the decision to ask her out that day, and my rationale was as follows: I figured if she said no (which I suspected she would - again, I was convinced there was no earthly possibility she could be single), then the day was already going to be terrible so it would be easier to tolerate the rejection; but if she said yes, then my whole day would be made and no matter what it would be an amazing day. I bumped into her about halfway through the day, right in the middle of the same lounge area where I first saw her. After creating some excuse to talk with her, I choked out a nervous request to go for coffee sometime and she gave me a response far better than I could have hoped for: "I was hoping you would ask!" The coffee date turned into a 4-hour dream of a first date, and from there our relationship grew and strengthened effortlessly and with incredible speed. Two weeks later, we shared a wonderful dinner at Pier W for her birthday, the first of many meals at what would become our special restaurant. We saw Christmas lights at a variety of places around Cleveland, took in many a sunset at Edgewater Beach, and explored Chagrin Falls as a first mini-trip together. Once summer came, we got to see Elton John's farewell concert in Cleveland, which was not only exceptionally fun but also a powerful bonding experience for the both of us that we glowingly reflect on often. Trips to Columbus and Chicago for fun and to cities near and far for the weddings of our friends made time fly by. As our second holiday season together approached, I was excitedly and, of course secretly, pondering the best way to ask her the best question, that question I knew all along that I needed to ask her. So after considerable planning and some sneaky assistance from her family, we ended up alone together at Belmar Beach on the New Jersey shore on a colder-than-preferable Friday evening in April 2023. When I put my knee to the ground with both of us crying in tears of joy, I told her, "Lacey, you are my best friend and my soulmate. Will you marry me?" To which she replied, "Yes! I was hoping you would ask!"