The first time I met Max my heart skipped a beat and I felt something I had never felt before. It was like fireworks exploded inside of me. We had heard of one another handfuls of times through friends, and even had friends try to hook us up, but the circumstances never brought us together until tragedy struck. One of our dearest mutual friends, Eric, passed away and it was through him Max and I were brought together. It took some time after we first met for us to actually connect. I was VERY single and he was.... finding himself. I will never forget the day he finally called and asked me out on a.... date... four VERY long months after we were first introduced. He asked me to go to a concert I already had tickets to (lol) so we decided to combine forces and go together. That night ended up being the first evening of the rest of our lives. From that point on we have been utterly inseparable. Maxwell has been by my side through some of the hardest times in my life. I lost my father to a massive brain tumor called a Glioblastoma within 9 months of his diagnosis. And my grandmother, Omie, who was more of a second mother figure to me than a grandmother, passed away only a few days after Max and I's engagement. Maxwell and Omie had an extremely close bond. From the first time they met until the last moments of her life he comforted her, loved her, and took heed to every bit of advice she had to offer. Not only did he shine for Omie, but for my entire family, and me as well. Max stood by my side and by my family and was truly a light through all of this tragedy. He made me feel safe and loved unconditionally. He's given me my own love story and this is just the beginning…..

Stephanie and I knew of each other long before we ever actually met. A few mutual friends of ours apparently saw something in both of us that led them to believe we would make a good match. They were on to something… We both knew of each other, but because we were at different points in our lives we had yet to cross paths. Until life forced us together in a rather sad way. One of our closest friends, Eric, had passed away. When something like this happens, you can only hope that somehow, someway, you’re able to find a silver lining. I'd say I found much more than that. Later that day, at a gettogether after the funeral, our eyes had met about ten times across a sea of people before we ever said a word to each other. Once we finally met, our conversation was only for a minute or two. Turns out that’s all it took! After that day we both went on about our lives for the next few months. Over these months, I would catch myself thinking about Steph. So much so that I had to do something about it. A couple days before New Years I decided I would finally man up and ask her out. I had tickets to The String Cheese Incident and happened to have extras, so I got her number from a friend and just went for it. I called her while she was working and for whatever reason she answered the call from a random number with a strange area code. I can still remember how good it felt hearing her voice over the phone for the first time. Ironically, she told me that she was already going to the show with some friends and that we should all meet up and go together. So we went to the show the first night and I hardly remember one song that was played because the only thing that had my attention was Stephanie. After that night we went on to spend the next six days straight without leaving each other’s side. At that point it was the best week of my life. Every day since then has been better than the last, and I cherish the true love we have for each other. Life is good!