We met as teenagers at Rancho Bernardo High School and remained good friends until graduation and even for a short time afterwards. During the summer of 2018, a week before Negeen moved to St. Louis to begin her PhD at Wash U, we ran into each other and decided to catch up over lunch. We kept in touch for the next couple of years, discovering in the meantime that we both had secret crushes on each other during our high school friendship, a fact all of our friends already seemed to be aware of. During the pandemic, Negeen returned to San Diego for an extended stay when classes moved online, and our friendship transitioned into a romance. Despite the distance, our relationship blossomed, and we both knew from the beginning that we would ultimately unite in marriage. We have had the unique opportunity to rediscover the kids we were as teenagers, fill each other in on the people we became in our twenties, and grow together during major life changes in our thirties. It has been a fun and exciting journey, with a love that grew out of friendship <3