January 5th, 2018 | Northeast Generals vs. Lewiston-Auburn Noriques Final score: 3-1 Northeast Anthem Singer Madison Leslie | #11 A. O’Dowd 2 assists How do you know you’re supposed to be with somebody forever? That they’re you’re soulmate, intertwined from long before you meet and side by side long after you’re gone? As far as I’m concerned, you just know. You feel it right away - like it was just supposed to be. We met for the first time in September 2018. A mutual friend brought Mads to the sandwich line I was working at the Franklin Pierce University dining hall. We were freshman student-athletes just weeks into college and trying to find our way. Naturally pretty friendly people, we were both excited to meet (and left thinking damn she/he’s pretty cute). Fast forward about a month and we were volunteering at the local YMCA for a “zombie run”. Mads and her friends watched in awe as this 21 year old freshman, dressed in full makeup as a zombie, chased local kids around a track while the rest of the event was just chilling. “What a freak” she thought (but loved it for some reason - what does that say about her?). Not too long after, we started to hang out as friends. Mads would have me over to watch the Sox play, have a couple drinks, just hang out, all that. At some point she told me she’s from Lewiston and from that point on, my brain never let go of the idea that I would always be connected to Mads. She’ll be the first to tell you I hated Lewiston - they were a big hockey rival and I made sure she knew how I felt. We were just yelling and laughing and falling in love, even if we didn’t know it yet. Mads and I have always been drawn to each other because we just love to have fun - I have another memory from very early on. Halloween weekend was like 35° and rainy in Rindge and we’re buzzing around campus, I’m being an idiot telling people “I’ll give you a dollar every second you stand under that flooded gutter”. The only person to oblige was Mads - she spent 20 seconds getting soaked in freezing temps, just for the laughs, and I remember thinking how crazy this girl is, she’s the best. I still owe her the $20. Over the next few years at school we were always there for each other, just a couple ol’ pals doing their best. We bonded over the grind of being benchwarmers and gym rats, organizing ways to stay in touch with our friends over covid, and a desire to be the best people we could be. I’d often think about her parents’ love story (ask them if you don’t know it) and say to myself, “Mads deserves something that special, but who would do that for her? I know I definitely would.” All that time we were both just so clueless. We became best friends over those years and didn’t think twice about trying to impress each other, or put up a front. We just were our most real, vulnerable selves and fell in love with each other that way. The closer we got to the end of our time together at FPU, the more inseparable we were. We’d see each other every day, spend every night sitting by the fire and howling our 5 favorite songs on repeat. It just felt like the world was ours, the party was about us, just her and I. It hit me like a smack in the face, I woke up with an “oh my God, I’m in love with her” and have consciously obsessed ever since. After grad we kept prioritizing our friendship (despite both of us thinking this is more than friendship) between meetups, celebrations, and trips. It took almost a year of being weird, “will we or won’t we,” before everything happened quickly. Our feelings came out at Mia’s birthday and we’ve been full speed ever since.

In our first year together, we drove up and down to see each other for months, moved to Florida and back, got our first apartment and full time grown up jobs. By the end of year two, I had a ring and permission to marry her. We got engaged on the beaches of Kinney Shores, right by her vacation home we’d spent years together at first as friends, then as a couple. We absolutely cannot wait to get married. The countdown “_____ days until ‘I do’” we have in our apartment says “too dang many!”, we’ve had our venue booked longer than we’ve been engaged (secret’s out!) and we daydream regularly about the big and little things that came with marriage - trips, food shopping, houses, chores, kids, lawns, holidays, glassware, everything. A quote that Mads showed me as friends says to be the person who cares more - Mads has always been that person and I try my best to match her (or beat her, we’re still competitive). It’s going to be a lifetime of caring as hard as we can for each other, rung in with the best day ever, best party ever, surrounded by the best people ever. To say we’re excited to celebrate with you would be an egregious understatement. See you August 7th!