We met in the School of Theology and Ministry Lecture Hall. Dale was my Teaching Assistant (scandalous...I know). I had never dated anyone at this point and didn't think Lee would bring me my forever soulmate. I thought Dale was kind and abnormally joyful but generally wasn't interested. The more I started to talk to Dale, the more I recognized that I liked being wherever Dale was, even if I only got to see him in passing. Then, on February 14th of 2023, I attended the Stone Chapel Revival at Lee, a transforming experience for both of us individually and together as we would later find out. It was during this week that I became especially fond of this goofy, Disney-loving, always singing, and worshipful guy. We had our first date on March 14th where we watched Cocaine Bear at the movies followed by Cookout trays - can't wait to tell that to our kids haha. On March 18th we told each other we liked each other. On March 21st I told him he could hold my hand but that we are no way kissing until we're dating. A couple days later I wanted to kiss Dale but he said "You said we aren't kissing until we're dating," to which I replied "What are you doing tomorrow night?" The next day Dale asked me to be his girlfriend, and the rest is history. We have been through heaven and hell together, but as Dale said in a letter to me once, "If I'm going to go through hell, I'm glad I have a glimpse of heaven by my side."

Well, I never thought that I would be introduced to the love of my life as I was sitting in that Systematic Theology class early last January, but life has a funny way of bringing us the unexpected. I began to attend North Cleveland and knew I would see my friend, Rebekah, every time. I admired her kindness and devotion to making others feel seen, as she did for me upon my first time at North College. I remember going to B-Dubs one night following North College and getting to know the heart of Rebekah. I was for sure growing more interested in her. I remember a trailer coming on in the restaurant for the movie, "Cocaine Bear," and I looked at her and said, "let's go see it." She said, "I'm down," and we laughed it off. A few days later, as the Spirit made its habitation in the stone chapel for a few days, I remember being there, standing towards the front. It was the first night, around midnight. I turned around, and there she was. I had never felt such a strong push to go and sit by someone. I went down and sat by her, and as the clocked ticked to midnight of February 14th, she looked at me and said, "happy freakin' Valentine's Day, Dale." A week of praising God followed by car rides home began, and a couple weeks later, I finally got the courage to ask her: "hey, why don't we go see Cocaine Bear?" Not your average first date, huh? Eleven days later, we were officially boyfriend and girlfriend. Nine months later, we were engaged. Soon, we will be husband and wife. But I will always remember one thing I told her on the night I asked her to be my girlfriend: "I will always love my God more than you." Typical answer of a Christian ministries student, right? The road has had its up and downs, and it still does. We have had our moments of laughter, of tears, of weeping, and of rejoicing. Through it all, I have learned one consistent principle: there is no person that I would rather go through it all with than Rebekah. In fact, there is NO person that I would EVER go through the highs and lows of life with than Rebekah. She is my girl, and she will always be. September 28th cannot come soon enough!