One night in September 2021 I received a message from LLoyd on the dating app, Hinge. It wasn't anything clever or funny but when I looked at his profile, I thought he was cute. We sent a few messages that night but nothing groundbreaking. The next night he sent me a message and asked if I wanted to meet him for a drink in about 30 minutes. He was on his way home from performing stand-up comedy at a restaurant, so it didn't give me much time to get ready (LLoyd would quickly learn that I'm very much a planner and need advanced notice). I sent his name and pictures to some friends (because you know I watch a lot of true crime shows & Catfish) and told them I was meeting him at Brier Creek Beer Garden. I didn't have high expectations for the night and once we started talking, we found we had only a few similar interests and were actually opposite in most things. We (mostly Lloyd) talked the whole night until the bar closed. He was funny and sweet and seemed like genuinely good person. Lloyd was ready to make plans immediately to see me again the next day, but I had plans to go to an Italian Festival in downtown Raleigh. We were texting the next day, me with my friends, and he with his. Somehow, he convinced all his friends to go with him to the Italian Festival so he could see me. I was surprised how much effort he was making and took a mental note (another check mark for Lloyd). This Italian Festival would be the place Lloyd proposes to me exactly 1 year later. After the festival was over, Lloyd invited me to the Durham Bulls game with him and his friends. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go by myself (having only known him for 24 hours at this point) but I went, and we had a great time as we both share a love for baseball and hot dogs. We spent a lot of time together after that first weekend going on dates, cooking dinners together, etc. Lloyd was very clear that he was interested and expressed his feelings, he was not here to play games. I appreciated how well we communicated with each other and how special he made me feel. One day we were on a walk and I was wearing white sneakers. We got to a muddy puddle in the trail and without hesitation he swooped me up and carried me over the puddle, so I didn't get my shoes dirty. His instinctual nature to put me first was what made me fall head over heels for him. I knew I was in good hands (literally). We continued to date and at a Friendsgiving dinner in November, Lloyd got down on one knee and asked me to be his girlfriend in front of everyone. It was so sweet, and all my friends loved him! We then had our first trip together to Mexico in December (shout out to the Fuentes Wedding!) where it become social media official that were together. After the holidays he met my family who immediately loved him, and he fit right in. It became easier and easier to see forever with Lloyd. In February at Law School Prom, while dancing to Elvis's "Can't Help Falling in Love" I told Lloyd for the first time that I loved him. We both cried and just danced in each other's arms for the most perfect moment and the most perfect night. Things continued to move quickly and by May Lloyd had moved in. In August I made the biggest sacrifice and declaration of love, Stevie Linguine (Lloyd's 95lb yellow lab) came to live with us (after an extended vacation with his grandparents). From there we became a little family. In September 2022 we came full circle at the Italian Festival where this whole story began, and he proposed to me with my friends and family in waiting. It's my most favorite love story ever.

Brittney never felt like a stranger to me. From the first time we ever met it felt like I was being reunited with an old friend. I think she felt the same way. At least enough to let her guard down. And to be clear I have no idea why. I was very open about the fact that I was planning on dropping out of law school to pursue a career in standup comedy. Why that didn’t set off a chorus of alarm bells in Brittney’s mind I’ll never understand. But for some reason or another we were the type of opposites that were attracted to each other. That opposites attract is a cliche that I don’t always find to be true. For lack of a better example, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump could be considered opposites and I doubt they’d live together happily ever after. But sometimes opposites do attract. Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart seem to be living their best life together. So then what makes some opposites attract and some opposites repel one another? A wise person once told me that if both members of a relationship are identical then one of them is unnecessary. That certainly seemed to describe Britt and I. It isn’t as much that we’re opposites as much as we’re complimentary. To be clear we have almost zero overlapping skillsets, interests, or tastes. I hate reality TV and she loves it. I couldn’t cook if my mother’s life depended on it, and she could be a Michelin star chef. However, the beauty of our relationship is that we’re very similar in our values. We have the same ideals, and we share a vision for what our lives together would look like. So, while on one hand it may be frustrating at times trying to find shows to watch together nevertheless, we always find ways to spend time together. I think it is because what we share is so much more important than the superficial ways in which we differ. For example, Brittney has a running list of all of the movies that she absolutely cannot believe that I haven’t seen during my childhood; and I still cannot believe that she has never watched or read a single Harry Potter story. Is that really an important aspect of a relationship? I don’t think so. I think the fact that we are open and honest with one another is one of our greatest strengths. For example, I can be honest with her that it is absolutely insane that she still refuses to watch Harry Potter to this day. Further, because she is the mature one, she can hear that, and appreciate that we’ll have another experience to share together. From the very beginning, I think that is why we have always felt like old friends. We’re different, but we both appreciate each others differences. Mine aren’t better and her’s aren’t worse. We’re just different, and that gives us something to share with the other person. The look in Brittney’s eyes when she experiences something new that she likes for the first time is something that is too magical to describe. It's my absolute favorite experience and believe it or not, that is something that I think we share. Thought out all the highlights of our relationship I think there exists a common thread: that we both love to see the happiness and excitement on the other’s face. Whether it was me sobbing after she told me she loved me; whether it was her sobbing when I asked her to marry me; or whether it was something as simple as her being surprised at my Christmas Tree decorating abilities, we love to make each other feel loved. Sometimes it maybe unconventional, and sometimes it may backfire, but at the end of the day we both know that we have each others back, for the good times and the bad, in sickness and in health, and that there is no one else we would rather experience all the wonderful things this life has to offer than with each other.