We first met in 2009 in middle school, spending summers on the Pop Warner football field. Jon playing football and Riley cheering on the sidelines. We barely spoke, but somehow a middle school “relationship” blossomed over a shared love of The Walking Dead… a show that Riley had never actually seen. After middle school, life took us on different routes - Jon to Delbarton, Riley to Mount Saint Mary - but we stayed loosely connected, running into each other now and then. It wasn’t until senior year of high school in 2016 that we truly reconnected, spending time with the same friend group and getting to know each other all over again. That friendship soon shifted gears when Jon asked Riley out on their first official date: a movie night to see Zoolander 2. (Again, a movie Riley had never seen.) From then on, weekends were never the same. There wasn’t one we didn’t spend together. Prom came along, followed quickly by Jon asking Riley to be his girlfriend. College was looming, bringing with it uncertainty about where life would take us next. Despite the miles and unknowns, we chose to stay together, navigating long-distance through countless texts, FaceTimes, and weekend visits. It wasn’t always easy, but every call and every trip taught us how much we truly meant to each other. In 2020, amid a global pandemic, we celebrated graduation in Riley’s driveway and started our post-grad lives, building careers and a life together side by side. In 2023, we moved into our first apartment, where we perfected a handful of signature recipes, explored new restaurants, went to concerts, traveled, and welcomed our cat, Wally, into our little family. Then, in July 2024, Jon proposed to Riley in Spring Lake, NJ, starting the next chapter of this adventure we’ve been on for so long. Through every phase — awkward middle school moments, high school late-night drives, long-distance college years, and post-grad life — we’ve grown together. In a world where uncertainty seems to be around every corner, we’ve always found our constant in each other. To celebrate the highs and lean on one another through the lows. We’re so excited to share this next chapter and celebrate our love story with the people who have been part of it from the start.