Madison and Khari met at their freshmen orientation for Lincoln University in the summer of 2014. When Madison, her mom and auntie peered into the crowd of families, they didn't see any tables with three chairs to spare. They looked left, right, up and down until finally, almost at the same moment, they all saw an available space! Madison and her family sat at the same table as Khari and his mother. They hit it off immediately and spent the rest of orientation together (in fact, Madison complained that Khari was talking too much during the sessions)! Together they signed up for their classes, explored the campus, and shared thoughtful stories about where they were from.

Though they did not exchange numbers during their initial meeting, Madison and Khari reunited shortly after school began. They found themselves in the same group of friends which helped to solidify their friendship. As time went on, they began to spend time together taking long walks across campus and sharing their thoughts on just about everything. Their first official date was stargazing. Given Lincoln's rural Pennsylvania location, the sky was void of overbearing lights to reveal a beautiful starry canvas. Finally, on Saturday, October 25, 2014, Khari asked Madison to be his girlfriend. Their 'Lincoln Love' continued throughout their undergraduate career to graduation, and together they moved to Khari's hometown of Philadelphia.

Madison and Khari decided to visit California for Christmas. Her family has a tradition of coming together for Christmas brunch followed by loving, quality time together playing games and watching movies. After everyone had their fill of waffles, pancakes, sausage, eggs, grits, fruit (you get the idea!), they moved on to the games. During 'White Elephant', Khari selected a particularly large, oversized red present from the pile. He opened it with a wide, excited grin and reached inside. Then in front of the whole family, Khari got on one knee and proposed.

In October, Madison and Khari accepted new job positions in Connecticut working in research and education, respectively. Though they had imagined spending a longer time in Philadelphia, they packed up everything (including their cat, Ras!) and made their way to New Haven, Connecticut. Following the wedding and their return home, they hope to spend the summer exploring all that New England has to offer!