Our story began in August of 2020 when we started a ceramics course together. Coming out of the stress of quarantine, the whole class bonded closely and many of us would often meet up in the studio outside of class to hang out and work on assignments. Although neither of us would admit it at the time, we would both find reasons to stay later than everyone else to hang out alone and talk long after our projects were completed. We would take turns playing music on the shared speaker and quickly found our playlists merging as we found our overlapping tastes. Over time, our hangouts left the ceramic studio and moved to other classrooms where we could watch shows and talk and laugh without the looming distraction of assignments.

Considering much of our friendship was founded on discussions of music and film, it’s not much of a surprise that our first official date on November 1st was to the Big E movie theater to see “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Having never been introduced to classic horror, Shaila was rather transfixed. Chris, however, was facing an internal battle as to whether or not it was appropriate to hold her hand. Fast forward to January of 2021 and we finally made things official. We passed through five more semesters together before graduating together in May 2023 alongside some of our best friends. The future looked exciting and scary all at once, but nothing seemed too daunting with the other at our side. For a little over a year we talked about marriage and how we couldn’t wait to live in the same city, but for now we were focused on saving up for when that day came.

In June of 2024, Shaila started a new job at an animal shelter where she quickly fell in love with one of the dogs, a shepherd mix by the name of Laura. While she knew she couldn’t throw a second dog into the mix, there was something about Laura that she was struggling to come to terms with letting go as she was quickly running out of time. On July 25th, she was called to perform a meet-and-greet with Laura and an interested adopter for the first time since being listed for adoption in just over a month. Needless to say, she was at a loss for words when she rounded the corner and saw Chris with both his parents, her parents, their dog Toby, and Shaila’s dog Tucker. Chris promptly got down on one knee and Shaila quickly said yes, ecstatic to be leaving with a ring, a dog, and a fiancé (okay, maybe not in that order). Laura was renamed Dolly, and her and Tucker have since become the best of friends. We are now looking forward to our wedding day as it quickly approaches. This is only one more step in our story, not the beginning or an end but a happy stepping stone to the rest of our lives. We can’t wait to celebrate our love on March 22nd with those who can make it, and appreciate every one of you for the role you’ve played in our lives. This is one chapter of many, and we can’t wait to continue writing our story together.