6.5.26

It all started sophomore year at Augustana, when I told my friend that I thought this guy named Dexter was cute. Unfortunately for me, somehow, he had no idea who I was. WILD!! Thankfully for me, we had a psych stats class together 2nd trimester. I would make an excuse to ask him a question, drop my pen for him to pick up, or ask him for a pen. When that didn't work, I switched to just obviously looking at him and smiling. Although he thought I had "cool boots," he did not pick up on the flirting. With some help from friends, we spent a magical night at a sorority semi-formal, dancing and drinking some of the finest booze a Midwest college student has to offer. Dexter then waited the customary 3 days to text me (thank you, Luis). On the special yearly event of Symbrosium Day Eve, I finally got a text from Dexter asking me if I would be at the party our fraternity & sorority were having. Obviously, I threw my phone across the room in excitement. Ever since that night in Station basement, we have been inseparable. How we met cements the beginning of our story. How we have grown and changed as a couple and individuals, however, is really the story of us. Our journey has included Don/Speed shenanigans, Camp Kesem, graduating college, being unsure of next career paths, my grad school, going through the death of my step-dad Dex, COVID-19, becoming cat parents to Cas & Moose, moving across the country to Texas, Dexter going back to school to become a pilot, missing family & friends, building a new community, new jobs, and moving back across the country. Throughout all of that, we have grown up together-- from the 19-year-olds that partied weekly to the 28/29-year-olds that LOVE a soup night. We have supported one another to be better for ourselves, each other, our communities, and humanity. The Tale of Us is a tale of unconditional love, growth, and open communication. One that I am so excited to continue and celebrate on 6/5/26.

I first saw Reileigh in our stats class sophomore year. Apparently we had crossed paths multiple times prior but somehow I had never noticed her. I always wondered why this beautiful girl who sat in the row ahead of me kept turning around and looking at me. It made it very difficult to learn to calculate standard deviations and P values. Now it seemed that I couldn’t walk around campus without running into her (stalker maybe?). We really didn’t interact until we danced together at a party. I offered to walk her home and gave her my sweatshirt to wear because she didn’t have a jacket….at a party across campus…in the winter…..I dropped her off at her dorm and did what any reasonable person would do when you’re face to face with your crush: I asked for my sweatshirt back and wished her goodnight. She told me down the road that she was hoping that I would kiss her then. Apparently, when you’re nervously talking to the person you’re smitten with you don’t pick up on a lot of signs that they’re into you. I would get to see her more though in class. We would meet up again at a semi-formal dance and I thought that I scared her off with my professional dance moves, i.e. the sprinkler and the shopping cart, but after she showed me up with equally impressive dancing skills we really started connecting. I took the advice of my friend, Luis, and waited the customary 3 days before texting her. A move that she would later describe to me as “insanely dumb”. Stats became my favorite class and I looked forward to it because it gave me the opportunity to walk her across campus to her next class and spend time getting to know her. I knew that I had found someone who was so smart, kind, and funny and as I look back I’m amazed at how much we’ve grown and learned together. We’ve had our ups and downs, living apart for her grad school, a pandemic, moving across the country and back again. But all of this has led to us building a stronger relationship and deepening our love for each other.