I knew of John before I actually knew John. Sophomore year, one of my friends was determined to set me up with her boyfriend’s friend, John. I laughed it off. I thought she was crazy to think I would ever date someone I had never even met. Spoiler: she was right. Oops. We went to one of John’s JV football games because my friend wanted to watch, and I figured why not. I half-watched the game while finishing her Spanish homework. Honestly, doing it myself was easier than trying to teach her. Somewhere between the bleachers and the homework, I ended up chatting with a woman sitting behind us who knew my friend. That woman turned out to be John’s mom, Mary. Pretty funny to think my first conversation about John was with his mom before I even met him. And then we left. I still did not meet him, and that was that. Now here is the part John hates, but this is my version so I get to say it. A few weeks later we started talking. Casual chatter, the occasional FaceTime. I was adamant that I did not want to date. We were just going to be friends. Oops again. Fast forward to December and suddenly we were on our “not-dates.” JoyRide Taco House (where his family literally spied on us from the patio next door), Christmas at the Princess (where I awkwardly ignored him the whole time), and hiking Squaw Peak (my idea, just so he would think I was athletic. I am not. I hate hiking). Through it all, I kept insisting we were not dating. So John did the smart thing. He stopped talking to me. Of course, the second he pulled away, I suddenly wanted him. Oh, how the tables turned. Eventually he asked me to Cotillion, and on February 6, 2016, he officially asked me to be his girlfriend. The rest is history. We graduated from Brophy and Xavier, went off to college in California, and survived a year of long distance. We both came back home to Arizona and graduated from ASU in 2022. After that, John’s football career took us to Indiana, then to Idaho. On July 11, 2024, in the middle of it all, John proposed. I said yes to forever with the boy I swore I would never date, the one who has been my constant through every season of life, and the one I truly cannot imagine my world without.

Two words changed my life: “Who’s that?” That is what I asked a friend back in 2015 after seeing an interaction between her and Lauren on social media. I had no idea I was asking about the woman who would one day become my wife. My friend must have sensed my interest, because before long Lauren started appearing in my world more and more, even meeting my mom before she ever met me during one of my JV football games. Lauren told me she would only stick around afterwards if we won. We lost, and she left. That moment marked the start of a chase, me trying to get her attention while she was almost completely ignoring me. She finally agreed to go on a “date” with me while my parents sat within view the whole time. Lauren never knew that from the moment I looked at her that night, I thought to myself: I have to hold on to her forever. It was like hearing a song for the first time and instantly knowing it would always be my favorite. Through the years, despite all the reasons two young kids might drift apart such as graduating high school, heading to different colleges, and facing the uncertainty of a pandemic, the idea of our story ending never crossed my mind. We made it work. Lauren was always my highest priority. And when I decided after college to move across the country for an unpaid job with no guarantees, she never hesitated. We moved three times in three years to places further from home than she had ever been, all so I could chase my dream. Before we left Indianapolis in 2023, I already knew I was going to marry her. All I needed was the right moment. I began planning my proposal in February of 2024, and by July I had convinced her she had organized an entire vacation to Coronado Island herself, the place where we first truly fell in love back in 2016. Eight years later, we returned, and it would be the last time we went anywhere as just boyfriend and girlfriend. That weekend became the happiest of my life. When life feels overwhelming, I think back to those days in Coronado and to the truth I have always known: Lauren is my peace, my home, my only thought. Lauren, it has always been you.