It all began with a birthday party… and a boy who wouldn’t stop trying to make a girl fall. We were in 5th grade when we first met at my best friend’s birthday party, held at an ice skating rink. She and I knew each other through club track, but we didn’t go to the same school, so I only knew the track girls there. Everyone else? Total strangers, including this one kid who kept skating just a little too close every time he passed me. He never said a word. Just kept zooming by, trying to make me fall (which he still denies to this day). Eventually, I skated over to my best friend and asked, “Okay, who is that?” That was the very first time I noticed him, and apparently, he noticed me too. The following year, we weren’t just in the same school, we were placed in the same homeroom. Not by coincidence, but thanks to the alphabet, both of our last names start with “R,” so school rosters placed us side by side. From that point on, we referred to one another as “homeroom buddies.” We became friends and over the years, stayed connected as part of the same big friend group. In the early years of high school, we drifted a little. But during junior year, something changed. My grandfather passed away, and during that difficult time, he reached out. He offered comfort, a listening ear, and a heartfelt prayer. In that moment, we reconnected in a way that felt different. Deeper. Our friendship grew stronger and eventually, it turned into something more. We dated through the rest of high school and into college. Life took us down separate paths for a while, but as it turns out, love has a way of circling back when it’s meant to. Almost eighteen years later, on December 23rd, 2024, he proposed in the very rink where two kids unknowingly started forever, the ice skating rink where a little girl met a little boy who wouldn’t stop trying to make her fall. Turns out, he did, just not the way either of us expected. Looking back, we can clearly see that none of it was by chance. God had His hand on our story from the very beginning. Through every twist, every season, and every moment in between, He was writing something beautiful. And now, as we stand on the edge of forever, we’re filled with gratitude; not just for each other, but for the One who brought us here. We invite you to celebrate with us, to bear witness to how good He’s been to us, the love story He’s written, and the covenant He always intended to create.