I know this is cliche, but in college I developed a crush on my friend Grace's older brother. I had seen his picture in her dorm room, so when I recognized him at her graduation I walked right up, introduced myself and started talking to him like an old friend. He seemed taken aback by my forwardness. A few days later he came to visit for a week. He was staying at a friends place, so Grace and I basically spent the whole week there too. We hung out, went to the beach and played basketball. The night before he left, he and I stayed up all night talking. We kept in touch and a few weeks later he moved to PA. We spent the whole summer together, especially after Grace left to visit their family in Zambia. I enjoyed getting him to try new things, and by the end of the summer we were inseparable. That fall he went home to visit his family in Zambia, but the day before he left he told me how he felt about me. The rest is history.

I went to my sister Grace's college graduation and I got to meet her friends, including Sarah. Sarah was nice, but seemed to know a little too much about me even though we had never met, which threw me off a little. I had a lot going on in my life, including my own graduation, so meeting girls wasn't high on my priority list. A few weeks later I went to PA to visit Grace. I asked about Sarah, and she said, "She can be a little intense but she is actually really nice." Grace and I invited Sarah to hang out a few times, including going to the beach. It was really memorable because I had never been to the beach in America before, and because Sarah shamelessly held a French Fry over her head on a dare and ran around, letting the seagulls chase her. I admired the fact that she didn't care what people thought and was always willing to be herself. We started to talk more. Sarah seemed authentic and genuinely interested in our conversations. I felt like I could let my guard down and be myself with her. A few weeks later, I moved to Pennsylvania. Sarah and I did a lot of fun things together that summer. I liked that Sarah had such a positive energy, and even though things in my life were stressful, when I was with Sarah I started to believe that everything would be OK. By the end of the summer, we were inseparable. I felt like we were already dating, but we hadn't told each other how we felt or made things official. So, the day before I left for Zambia, I worked up the courage to tell her how I felt, and to my great relief she felt the same. The rest is history.

It was a week after we arrived in Houston. Starting over and building a life together was fun but stressful. We decided to take Kuma for a walk. Jaeger suggested we check out a local arboretum. It was lush and beautiful. Kuma and Sarah were leading the way, enjoying the walk when all of a sudden Jaeger stopped and bent down to tie his shoe. As Sarah turned around he pulled out the ring box and with boyish charm and a nervous smile he asked Sarah if to would spend the rest of her life with him. It was perfect in its simplicity. And, of course, she said yes!