Mya and I were fortunate to build our relationship on the foundation of a two-year friendship. When we were first introduced by our mutual friend Christine, Mya was in a long-term relationship, and I was simply glad to connect with another smart, caring, and funny person in Milwaukee. At the time, I had no idea I was meeting my future wife. Over those two years of friendship, we gradually discovered how compatible we were. Mya became the first person I texted with exciting news and the one whose opinion I valued the most. After a summer of doing the classic will-they-won’t-they dance, we finally decided to give it a real shot. We were both nervous—worried that taking the next step might jeopardize a friendship that had come to mean so much—but we realized that what we stood to gain by being life partners was even greater. We took a leap of faith, and we haven’t looked back since.

For those of you who know me, I am not the most emotional person outwardly. I tend to keep my thoughts and emotions pretty close to the vest and have a hard time expressing them when others are around. I say that to say unfortunately my Matthews family has suffered a lot of loss in the years Mya and I have been together, and she has literally been the shoulder I needed to cry on, when I didn't even know I needed to cry sometimes. When my Grandma Grace died I didn't realize the weight it held on me until one day Mya started to ask me about her and what she was like and the waterworks wouldn't stop. I cried for what felt like hours. I was sad about the loss of such a pillar of our family, sad that there was so much I still didn't know about her and sad that I won't see her smile or hear her laugh again. I realized then just how safe and comforted Mya made me feel because that was a vulnerability I hadn't even seen in myself until that moment. That moment when she halted her evening and consoled me as I cried myself to sleep was when I knew she would always be there for me, and a partner I could not live without.

It’s hard to fully put into words how I feel about Jarred and how our relationship has grown over the past seven years. For a long time, I often felt like the world could be a lonely place—but from the moment I met Jarred, I knew I’d never feel that way again. We share the same worldview, the same sense of humor, and as our friendship deepened, I found myself feeling most at home when I was with him. Over the years, Jarred has only continued to show me what an incredible partner he is. He takes care of me in ways both big and small—quiet, thoughtful gestures that might go unnoticed by others but mean everything to me. He loves his family deeply and has built meaningful relationships with mine. His generosity, patience, kindness, intelligence, optimism, open-mindedness, empathy, and magnanimity are just a few of the reasons I fell in love with him. Most days, I wake up and truly feel like the luckiest person in the universe. I can’t wait to marry him.