If you didn't know us in 2015 or haven't been involved in our crazy lives recently, here's a great recap that we wrote for our green card application. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HxwkbxexujTJfoHllu4Fm8DifGSbrUcX/view?usp=sharing Text is below, but if you follow the link we put a lot of effort into choosing and formatting the pictures on the link so go to it <3

Our story starts in the fall of 2015. Morgan had just returned home from a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Japan, ready to finish her senior year of undergrad and hungry to learn more cultures and ways of life around the world. And at the same time Kiran was living out his dream of coming to America to start his master’s program. Little did they know that they just barely missed sighting their soul mate at the airport. In October, they met at UC International’s new student retreat. Throughout the weekend, they only interacted a few times, but managed to begin a great friendship over s’mores and late night card games.

After the retreat, Kiran’s roommates invited Morgan over to watch a Bollywood film (because it was some type of tragedy that she had never seen one before). Morgan still remembers sitting together on the couch as Kiran and his roommates tried to figure out which movie was the best one to show someone who had never watched a Bollywood film. They settled on “Three Idiots”, a movie about life in Engineering School in India. Without her knowing, Morgan became their guide to American life. She took them to football games, homecoming parades, and taught them what is pass interference and how much to tip. Kiran cooked Indian food for Morgan as his way of saying thanks. Then in November, Morgan invited Kiran and a few friends to her home for Thanksgiving, bringing them one step closer to the American experience. It was quite a challenge food-wise for the Brinks to make vegetarian entree's at Thanksgiving, but they pulled it off and everyone had a blast.

In December though, things would change from just friends to something more serious. It was the end of the semester and Morgan & Kiran had spent many late nights working on projects, assignments, and papers together and studying to get through finals. So along with two other friends, they set off for Florida: Miami Beach & Key West. Kiran and Morgan grew closer making the trip memorable and a founding stone for their upcoming relationship. They went out together to celebrate NYE and Kiran mustered all his courage and kissed Morgan when the ball dropped after she persistently explained to him that that’s what people do. After NYE, Kiran asked Morgan to be his girlfriend and she didn’t hesitate to go out with him. After that, they started spending more time alone together, cooking and watching movies, playing games and studying. In February when their friends finally asked, “Are you guys together?” they happily answered, “Yes!” In March, when Morgan turned 22, Kiran used his sneaky other language skills to throw her a surprise birthday party. At midnight of her birthday, he had many of their mutual friends show up at his apartment to celebrate and to teach her about the Indian tradition of smearing cake on the face (and she thought she was safe until her wedding day). She often says it was one of her best birthdays. And then a couple days later, Kiran joined the Brink family for Morgan’s annual birthday dinner. This is where he learned about the Brink boys’ love for ribs. After they had admitted to their friends that they were together, no one could keep them apart. Morgan & Kiran went on every date they could think of: playing in the snow, cultural events on campus, ballet shows, cherry blossom viewing, late night coffee / drinking / hookah, cooking for each other, the drive-in, and more.

They quickly became close enough that Kiran began spending more time with the Brinks. He visited for Easter, took a 2-hour drive with Morgan and her grandparents to their favorite winery/restaurant, and came to her senior band concert with the family. Surprisingly, Morgan’s parents invited Kiran to go on a road trip to Florida for the graduation party of Morgan’s cousin. Of course, he went along.

Then came the hardest part of their time “together”. Morgan decided to take one final study abroad for her last semester at UC. They thought they would only be apart for six weeks, but Kiran accepted an internship opportunity in California that started before Morgan’s return. This turned the separation into six months of living in different cities. They both were hesitant about the relationship, thinking it might not last across such a distance, but nothing could keep them apart, not even 2,400 miles. Morgan stayed up far too late every night waiting for Kiran’s shift to end so that they could talk on the phone and they both flew back and forth from San Francisco to Cincinnati at least once a month to keep up with each other. They went on a two-week road trip that winter to Florida and New Orleans to make the most of the break between Kiran’s internships.

By the time Kiran accepted his first full-time job in June 2017, the relationship had already proven to be ready for living together. Morgan had just been waiting for Kiran’s final destination. Her family was very happy that they decided to settle in Detroit, only 5 hours away. From July 2017 until September 2019, they lived together in Michigan taking as much time as possible to travel the country together. They made new friends, got set in their routines of waking up together, leaving for work, coming home to jog or bike, cooking a meal, and settling in to watch Office, Friends, Cheers, or some other show each night. Before they knew it, they became a grown up couple who combined their finances into a shared checking account allotted for “joint” expenses, such as rent, utilities, groceries, eating out, traveling together, going to the movies, etc. and even opened a credit account together to spend on those categories. In 2018, Kiran took Morgan to India for the first time. They went to four cities in India before landing in Visakhapatnam to meet his family. Morgan was very nervous after hearing stories about some members not approving of Kiran’s choice, but the meeting went great! She has been back twice since and spent time in his hometown Rajam getting to know aunts, uncles, siblings, nieces, nephews and more.

During Morgan’s October 2019 visit to attend Kiran’s brother’s marriage, a magical moment happened. Kiran booked a private dining experience at our favorite Visakhapatnam restaurant and they enjoyed a bottle of wine, sand in the toes, and the sound of waves crashing onto the beach. Halfway through dinner, Kiran got the bartender to play Morgan’s favorite love song and then got on one knee to ask her to marry him. Although she was anxiously awaiting him to ask this question, she still cried many happy tears while saying “yes, yes, yes – of course.” Kiran had to leave the US for a few months due to his work status and just like in 2016; Morgan flew to visit him twice. The first time to attend his brother’s wedding and the second time just because. When Kiran returned to the United States on February 4th, 2020 to start a new job, Morgan already had many ideas for their wedding and made sure to get engagement photos taken within a few weeks.

In August 2020, amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, Morgan & Kiran made their vows, they said "I do" and exchanged rings. They're living happily together in Detroit, MI (well mostly in Detroit) and very much looking forward to both their Hindu wedding ceremony and getting to have a proper celebration of their union in November 2021 with all their friends and family!