In late September 2023, Summer added Ethan on Snapchat hoping to find a homecoming date. She was a junior, he was a senior, and neither of them knew that one simple add would change everything. They met for the first time in their high school parking lot and quickly fell into a routine—arriving early every morning just to sit in his truck before first period. On October 21st, 2023, at a fall festival, Ethan asked Summer to be his girlfriend. He spent the year wrestling, and she was there for nearly every meet. Even when he traveled during the holidays, they never missed a night of FaceTime. Ethan graduated in May 2024, and they spent a perfect summer together before life pulled them in different directions—him to a college apprenticeship two hours away, and Summer into her senior year. His schedule rotated three months away and three months home, so they took turns visiting each other every other weekend. When the holidays came, he was finally home, and they shared their first real Thanksgiving and Christmas side by side. He left again in January 2025, but distance didn’t stop them. They took their first trip together that February, and on April 2nd, they adopted their puppy, Nina—Summer’s impulsive PetSmart find who instantly became their spoiled little girl. A month later, Summer brought home a tiny kitten named Nugget, who Ethan pretended not to love… until he absolutely did. I think you can spot a theme here. That summer apart was the hardest yet. While he was gone, Ethan decided he wanted to join the Air Force. When he returned in August, he met with a recruiter and left his apprenticeship behind—finally home for good. They had talked about getting married before he left for basic training, and moving in together on October 1st felt like the next natural step. Less than two weeks later, on a hike with Nina trotting ahead, Ethan knelt down—pretending to tie his shoe—and instead asked Summer to marry him. And that’s how their story began: one snap, one truck, two spoiled babies, and a love that chose each other through every mile, every season, and every change life brought their way.