In the spring of 2020, in Springfield, Ohio, Mackenzie joined her sister, Amber, and brother-in-law, Josiah, to play disc golf with their friends, which included Kyle. Over the next four years, our lives intertwined occasionally when Kyle visited his Michigan friends. These visits included disc golf, eating fries smothered in cheese sauce from Hopcat, and even helping Mackenzie’s family move. Most notably, on Kyle’s first Fourth of July as an American citizen (he was born in Canada), we celebrated with steak, burgers, hot dogs, and bacon—all in the same sandwich. In the fall of 2024, Kyle moved to Michigan to be closer to his friends. Conveniently, while searching for a house, he lived in Josiah and Amber’s basement unit. Thanks to Amber’s maniacal but well-intentioned—scheming, Kyle and Mackenzie started spending more and more time together. Group hangouts became routine, and somewhere along the way, Kyle bought everyone lunch. Mackenzie sent him a Venmo to pay him back, and he was quick to text back… and then never stopped texting. That same week, Mackenzie found herself with a string of snow days and spent each one at Amber and Josiah’s house. Kyle, of course, was always around. Soon came our first date: dinner at Rose’s. A couple of weeks later, on a cold winter walk, Kyle asked Mackenzie to be his girlfriend. Dating included watching old movies at the Wealthy Theater, getting Kyle settled in his new house, kayaking, walking through downtown Rockford, exploring new restaurants, and lots of ice cream. What felt easy from the beginning only grew deeper with time. On Christmas Eve 2025, Kyle proposed as we were exchanging gifts—just the two of us—around the Christmas tree.