We met at summer camp, but there’s no telling when. All that can be said about our introductions is that they occurred. Far more memorable is how we got to know each other, which really happened during the summer of 2016. Prior to that, we had only had a few conversations here and there. To me, Paige was just a really pretty girl who also happened to be my quasi-boss and also happened to be my friend’s sister. I thought she was attractive and funny, but out of my league to the point that it never crossed my mind to pursue anything beyond a friendship. Paige thought I was quiet (how wrong she was) but had confided in a friend that she thought I was cute. What started off as a summer fling quickly developed into a real relationship. We began to spend more of our off time together and Paige, being in charge of scheduling, made sure that we were off during the same afternoon periods. By the time the middle of the summer rolled around, we were texting at night in our cabins and stealing a goodnight kiss before bed. We got more serious, and when she kept hanging out with me after I planted a cockroach in her pack of gum, I knew she was a keeper. Like all summers do, ours came to a happy/sad end. I was heading back to Athens and Paige returning to Marietta after a 4 year sojourn to Milledgeville. But we had decided that what we had going was worth traveling 80 miles and navigating the fact that Paige was now a gainfully employed adult while I was still a ways off from a bachelor’s degree. But here we are 5 years and 3 pets later. I returned to Atlanta, worked three more years at Mikell and as a youth minister, got a degree at Georgia State, and now sell and work on classic cars. Paige has come into her own as an incredible educator working at Pace Academy, and earned herself a master’s degree. There have a been a lot of changes and our fair bit of challenges, but we’ve discovered that with a level head and a heart full of love for each other, nothing can get in our way.