We met on Hinge, which is "designed to be deleted." Our first date was in August 2023 at View House in Centennial, CO. Michelle had recently moved to Colorado in late July to start her nursing career. Over the next few months, we grew very fond of each other on multiple dates. We became official on Christmas Eve 2023 after Michelle came home from a long hospital shift. Sam's loving dog, Bruce, soon became part of Michelle's life. We moved in together in the summer of 2024 and continued to fall in love, taking vacations and making memories with friends and family. On December 7th, 2025, Sam proposed to Michelle before the Royal Gorge Christmas train in Canon City, Colorado, despite both having been diagnosed with influenza A the day before. We laugh together and learn new things about each other every day. We're grateful to our wonderful family and friends for sharing our love story and celebrating our new beginning!