in the fall of 2023 my best friend, dom, and i started regularly visiting the coffee shop where daniel worked, always chatting with him while we waited for our food and drinks. every single time he would ask my name, forgetting that we’d already met many, many times. we were both at dom’s for friendsgiving that year, where we ended up talking to each other most of the evening. a week later, i was invited to daniel’s birthday celebration at a local cocktail bar, followed by games at an arcade bar, where daniel and i played a bowling game together for at least an hour. this too was immediately forgotten. fast forward a few months (skipping over many more re-introductions at the coffee shop) to the summer of 2024, dom texted daniel and suggested that he take me on a date and gave him my phone number. we texted a bit, discovered we both loved a classic daiquiri, and decided on a daiquiri date at sovereign remedies on july 9th. neither dom nor i knew at this point that daniel had no idea who he was texting or agreeing to go on a date with. daniel would later tell me that as he prepared for the date he realized i was someone he had met but could not, for the life of him, remember who i was or what i looked like, and that if he got to the date and didn’t recognize me, he would politely excuse himself. thank god he recognized me, though, because as it turns out, this man who could never remember me would soon become the love of my life.

when we don’t know what to expect, sometimes all we can do is default to what we DO know. like layla said, when i agreed to meet for a drink, i wasn’t quite sure who it was i was meeting. i knew that i knew her and that we’d met on a number of occasions. i’d been informed that on each of these occasions, i’d attempted to introduce myself. like, more than a handful of times, i’d attempted to introduce myself. *sigh before our date, there were texts. brazen banter that, upon re-reading months later, was obviously a frantic distraction from the fact that i have the memory of a goldfish. all the same, the night arrived with little in the way of enlightenment. it weighed heavily on me. dom was a friend, and her judgement was valued. it didn’t matter to me that i couldn’t place a face with a name, because layla passed dom’s criteria. if layla was good enough for dom, odds were high she was too good for me. it was decided, therefore, that if i arrived at the bar and did not recognize layla, i would have to excuse myself on the basis of honor. on the basis that, as a human being, layla deserved someone that remembered her clearly, and delighted in that memory. i felt unworthy, in a way, in those nervous moments walking up market street towards sovereign remedies. but then, there, sitting by the large window facing walnut street, framed in a timeless deco arch, was layla. and i remembered her. i walked in, we exchanged pleasantries, and were shown to our table. as we sat, i remember feeling something i’d never felt before. i think it was connection. it felt deep in a novel way. it was as if her soul had reached out to mine, and they felt at peace with one another. she may not have known that i would become the love of her life, and it may have taken me a few too many introductions to finally meet her… but i knew in that moment that i’d found my person. and she liked daiquiris, just like me.

we had been together for less 3 months when hurricane helene hit asheville. daniel was spending the night at my place that night. it had been raining hard since the day before, but we had no idea what was in store for us when we went to bed that night. neither of us are great sleepers, we often wake up at least a couple times a night, but that night we slept soundly, not waking once. when we woke in the morning to texts from worried friends, we quickly realized that we somehow slept through a night of loud winds, transformer explosions, and trees crashing all around the apartment building. we ended up leaving town in search of supplies and stayed with daniel’s brother in atlanta for a few days. while we were there we had a long discussion about whether to return to asheville or seek shelter with his mom in st. louis. the thought of returning to asheville in the same, or potentially a worse, state than we left it was quite scary. we didn’t know how long we would be without water and electricity, if we would have enough supplies, or if it was even safe to return. because i work in urgent care, i was needed in asheville immediately. i told daniel i had to go back but that he could stay in atlanta or go to his mom’s, and that i would be sad, but that he had to do what felt right for him. after some tears, daniel decided to come back to asheville with me. the utilities at my apartment came back much sooner than his, so i told him he was welcome to stay for as long as he liked. with very few exceptions, we’ve spent every night together since. we later realized that things could have gone quite differently for us in the aftermath of the hurricane. the tragedy and grief that the storm brought could easily have put a strain on our new love and tore us apart, but instead it made us stronger and brought us closer together. it feels wrong, in a way, to say this because of the trauma and tragedy inflicted on our town by helene, but we will always be grateful for that time because it showed us what we were made of and what we’re made for, and that is strength and that is for each other.

even before the hurricane, layla and i found much common ground to explore together. we both loved little adventures. we loved day trips, cafe visits, photowalks, rock climbing, cooking together, and enjoying music - in a venue, a kitchen, the car, or in my studio. we leaned into these shared joys, teaching each other and learning from each other, building a foundation of shared interests that would keep us growing for a lifetime. over time, i bought climbing gear, she acquired a camera or two, we bopped in and out of town whenever we could, and steadily her interests and my interests became our interests. soon enough, i had some random pieces of clothing at her place, she had a heating pad and a dog bed at mine (for cadre, y’all!) and we found our separate homes becoming comfortable for each of us when we were away from our familiar beds. i never wanted to be far from her. even on days i knew i wouldn’t see her i liked to pop by her apartment to walk the pup, tidy a bit, and occasionally cook a little dinner for her for when she finally got home. i didn’t mind having a separate place to lay my head, but i also knew that, more than anything else, i wanted to fall asleep next to her and wake up next to her. fairly early on in our journey, layla and i were in her kitchen one night, whipping up dinner and lamenting the rent rates in town. my longterm roommates were looking to strike out on their own, and i was scrambling to think of how i could stay in the house i’d been in for nearly a year. it would be a challenge. layla asked what i would be paying in rent after they left, if i couldn’t find a couple folks to split it with me. when i told her what i paid, the blood drained from her face. suffice it to say, rent wasn’t low pre-hurricane. we realized that our leases would both be ending around the same time, and without much thought, layla exclaimed that when our leases ended, we should just get a place together. immediately, all that blood rushed right back to her face! i giggled a bit at her discomfort. as embarrassed as she might have been for suggesting a shared space so early in our relationship, i was quietly filled with joy. i had known, since the first few moments of our first date, that i’d be spending a lot of time with layla. it seemed a shared space was simply a matter of course. fast forward to after the hurricane, i was spending most of my time at her apartment, only popping by the house from time to time to pick up necessities or to drop something off. i realized that, much like i felt in the kitchen that night, i wanted nothing more than to build a home with layla. we talked it over for a little while and decided that, at leases end, we would indeed find a place of our own for a new beginning. turns out, that time came quicker than we’d imagined. we had looked at several spots and kicked around the idea of moving her into the house, but we couldn’t find a solution that felt right for both of us. then an opportunity presented itself. we got tipped off to a cute apartment across town and we bounced over to have a look. it was perfect. big kitchen, big bedrooms, lots of light, walk-in closets… it even had a studio room and an espresso nook. we were sold immediately! problem was, it was still a while before our leases ended and there was only one of these units left in the complex. we decided we couldn’t let the opportunity pass, so we signed a lease at the end of december and were in our new home mid-january. she picked the linens, i picked the espresso machine, and together we made it our home.

we had been talking about doing a birthday photoshoot for our dog, cadre, for a few weeks. as his birthday got closer, daniel suggested that we turn it into a family photoshoot and that he’d have his friend take the photos. i thought it was a great idea and thought nothing more of it. we went to the pet store, bought cadre a cute little birthday hat and bandana, and then got ourselves dressed up a little and headed off to the photoshoot. the location for the photoshoot was kept a surprise, which in retrospect should have made me a little suspicious. when we arrived, i realized we were at a secret spot in daniel’s old neighborhood where he took me in the early days of our relationship. it faces the sunset and overlooks the river arts district. he had me stand in the clearing, with the sunset behind me, so that jared could get the camera set up and ready to go, while daniel got cadre’s birthday outfit on him. they came to join me for the photos and daniel asked me to hold the pup. as he put our dog in my arms i caught a glimpse of something shiny on the bandana, but cadre was trying to fight his way out of my arms, so it was hard to tell what it was and i didn’t want to make assumptions. once cadre settled down, i saw the ring clearly tied into the birthday bandana and looked up to daniel. he just stared blankly at me and didn’t say anything so i wasn’t really sure what to do. i looked back down at the dog to make sure i wasn’t hallucinating. i was not. there was in fact a ring there, and it was beautiful. i looked back to daniel, who still said nothing, so i asked, “well, are you going to help me get this off?” daniel untied the ring, got down on one knee and asked if i would make him the happiest boy in the world and be his wife. i probably should have paused for suspense, but i think i started saying yes before he finished asking. he put the ring on my finger, stood up, and i did a little happy dance before giving him the biggest, longest hug i possibly could. i did another happy dance and asked if we could just go to the courthouse the next day. but alas, we decided we wanted all of our friends and family to be there and couldn’t be more excited for you all to be part of our wedding day!

we were coming up on one year together, and i’d known she was the one for a while, but wasn’t sure if i was moving too fast. what does too fast mean, anyways? it didn’t matter. i spoke to her parents and secured their blessing, then i spoke to dom about what layla might adore in a ring, and then i spoke to a local jeweler, who got started on the ring right away. the center stone was a lovely tanzanite that my mother passed down to me. it was a delicate purple in soft light. one of her favorite colors. while the ring was being crafted, we took off to charleston with the pup for a weekend away, to celebrate our year. when we got home, i got a call about the ring. it was complete. i needed a plan for the actual moment, something she wouldn’t suspect. luckily, cadre’s birthday was approaching, and we needed family portraits to mark the occasion. i called upon my good buddy jared to play photographer. when the evening arrived, layla, cadre and myself would get dressed to the nines and head down to a secret spot where jared would be waiting to “take our portraits in the sunset,” overlooking a healing river arts district. it was a spot we’d been to, one where we had shared a gentle moment, and she was wearing the same dress she wore on our first date. as jared was “framing the shot,” i was tying the ring into cadre’s birthday bandana. i asked my love if she wouldn’t mind holding the pup? she took him from me, wrangling the lad as i handed him over. in that moment, she adjusted his bandana and i could see her eyes widen slightly, a look of stunned realization passing across her face. slowly, she looked up into my eyes. then back down to cadre’s bandana. then back into my eyes, where she held my gaze and whispered the most beautiful words i’ll ever hear in my life (until april)… “well, are you going to help me get it off the bandana?” as i removed the ring, i dropped a knee, looked into her eyes and asked for her hand - in marriage, in life, in anything and everything, always and forever. from the moment we met - for the 33rd time, mind you - i knew she was my one, my only, my blessing. and now, she was going to be my wife.

daniel and layla met a whole bunch of times. they got daiquiri's one night. they survived a hurricane. they moved in together. they got engaged. wedding is on april 24, 2026.