It all began in a brick building at the age of eleven. Through passed notes in classrooms, quick conversations by lockers, and stolen glances throughout the school days we quickly went from being strangers to best friends. We saved seats, jokes, and secrets for one another.

Josh & I decided to meet halfway between our childhood homes one evening to test our relationship. I wanted more and he simply wanted the girl who so easily became his best friend. We met on the corner slab of sidewalk across from the courthouse and railroad tracks. He brushed my hair aside and we leaned into a lingering kiss that stopped the world and made the butterflies flutter all at once. I was his first kiss, and he was my favorite. I have always held this memory close to me. It comforted me through the heartbreak of Josh not wanting more at the time, through settling for losers who later became abusers, and through mental health ups & downs. I spent years searching for a kiss that could compare and a boy that could love me as much as him.

We had gone our separate ways. We experienced life at different paces; growing parallel but never crossing paths. We gave each other space... for one reason or another it was easier to not exist in each other’s life than to be something less than we wanted to be. Somehow five years had passed. We were both back in our hometown. I had just broke free of a suffocating relationship and our childhood friend, Asher, had told Josh that I was newly single. Josh reached out to me. He asked, “I heard what happened... how are you?” I couldn’t remember the last time someone had asked me that. Such a simple question so easily brought me back to him. We spent that summer completely intertwined. Every waking moment dedicated to catching up on missed time. We dreaded the inevitable goodbye that the fall semester would bring. Josh would attend IUPUI and I would spend every weekend traveling to Indianapolis to be with him. We cried with every hello and reluctant goodbye until finally we decided that after our three week trip to Germany in December we would move in together.

Almost four years passed. We experienced every part of life alongside one another. The good, the bad, and the ugly had written our beautiful love story. We attended parties & funerals. We laughed until we cried & cried until we laughed. I broke and he helped to put me back together; carrying me when my legs didn’t work like they used to. Life still tasted sweet despite the trials we faced. After spending the holidays with our family we decided to drive down to St. Augustine to see the Nights of Lights. We visited the lighthouse on our second day of vacation. We slowly climbed up the 219 steps of the winding cast iron staircase. We were greeted at the top by gusts of wind, grey clouds, and drizzling rain. I stood at the edge, resting my hands against the slick red railing. When I turned to look for Josh, he was down on one knee asking, “Will you marry me?” I giggled and asked, “Are you kidding me?” The next thing i remember was him slipping the most beautiful diamond ring onto my finger and wrapping me in a hug. Everyone around us clapped as I proclaimed, “We’re engaged!” The lighthouse attendant snapped our picture before we braved our way back down. I smiled, flashed my ring, and shared our happy news whenever we passed strangers between flights of stairs. We spent the next couple of days telling our proposal story to anyone that would listen.