M & B

Brianna and I met in the Andrew Jackson Middle School Orchestra, but did not really become friends until we had lunch together in sophomore year of high school. After sitting next to her for an hour every day, I began to notice I was catching feelings. It eventually came to a point on March 10th, 2017, that I had to tell her! It had to be destiny because on that day someone had drawn a heart in the sky and Brianna saw it. She took a picture *just* incase it came to mean something. Now, we are getting married 9 years later on the date. For the rest of high school, we texted nearly every day, made inside jokes we still use, and grew closer until we were officially best friends. But with college applications and acceptance letters in the air, we actually didn't know where this relationship was going. It was a conversation I think we only once stumbled through having, but we weren't stuck for long before God stepped in and gave us a sign- we were both accepted into UCF. A teacher in high school recommended that I look into actuarial science, which UCF had a program for. After some research, it was clear this was the career for me. Plus, it meant that I would be going to the same college as Brianna.

Getting accepted into the same college as your boyfriend was the coolest thing ever. We got to experience this brand new chapter entirely together. In fact, we drove together the first day of classes and most of the semester after that. We navigated campus together while exploring our own interests, careers, and friends. But that didn't even last a year when covid hit that March. We had to operate communicating as a new couple through a screen. Even then, we persevered through the beginning friction of a young relationship. We realized if we could navigate this stage through a global pandemic, then we probably had a good chance at making it in this relationship long term. The testing of our strength, relationship, and faith wasn't done, however. In 2021 when we thought we were clear to return back to in person classes, Mack moved out to a townhome near UCF. It was a grand, brand-new experience to look forward to once again. But he became sick, affecting his sleeping and eating. To watch someone go through unknown pain and discomfort reveals how much of a part of yourself they really are to you. Eventually he needed surgery that reconstructed his intestines and began his slow return to normalcy. Mack was patient and I admired his strength, while hating to watch him go through that. His graduation path was delayed and we had to maintain motivation toward the end of our senior years, which were now, for the 2nd time, ending together. Our 4 years of college were incredibly challenging and taught us sacrifice. I learned that Mack was the person I wanted to do the hard things with, which led to many starry eyed conversations about the next steps of our careers and relationship.

Once we graduated college we knew it wasn't long before taking the next big steps. We made a plan and mapped it out financially. We both started our respective careers and saved up for a year and a half before getting engaged. Since I had the ring for a while, I was really excited to finally propose. While waiting for the right moment to get on one knee, I got to admire the ring each day. The only people who knew were our parents, who did a great job keeping it a secret from Brianna. The night of the proposal, It was so cold that we were both shaking, and Brianna almost didn’t believe I was actually proposing. We reveled in finally sharing the news with everyone, and now we look forward to celebrating with everyone on March 10th, 2026.