We technically met back in middle school (so like a few years ago) and went through high school together. We knew who one another was, and we hung out with a lot of the same people, but we didn’t really know each other. Life went severely different ways for each of us, but eventually, Katie moved back to town and we reconnected online, at least in part from Katie wanting to check in on me to see how I was doing. This all took place at the end of 2021. We spent a few days sending messages back and forth (mostly to determine the level of weirdness through grammar correctness – we both passed) but that quickly got old. I think it mostly got old because Katie somehow only types with one finger on her phone so the messages usually ended up like 3:1 in Tucker’s favor. Conversation then turned to phone calls, and to both of our surprise, we both actually enjoyed talking to one another. This would be an even bigger surprise to anyone who knows Katie and her family and how fast they get off the phone (k bye). After a few days of multi-hour conversations, Tucker invited Katie to the Glass Die to test out his latest game in development. It was snowing, cold, and at night – great time for a first date. Katie doesn’t like to drive in the snow, so she had her mom and sister drive her, but she did make it (I think like an hour late). They played an early prototype of an unreleased game that became one of Tucker’s best-selling games in 2023. Katie managed to win her first time playing (which prompted Tucker to change a few rules) and everyone had a good time. After a couple hours, Katie asked Tucker to drive her home. This now to people who know Tucker would be a big deal as he doesn’t typically drive (or go anywhere, let alone in the snow). He agreed, and they drove to drop her off, stopping at a restaurant near her house to get what would be one of many unmemorable meals in a now two year search for the best burgers in town. Everything after that has been a series of short stories, fun happenings, wild adventures, and an ongoing journey where two people who are nearly complete opposite come together. If you make a pie chart of Katie and her interests and Tucker and his interests, the circle is nearly full with only a slight sliver of overlap and a slight sliver of complete lack of knowledge or disinterest (to their families, this last slice is also known as “cooking”).

Tucker would tell me I got you a "ring" and I would ignore it as he was talking about a "ring doorbell" box that was in the garage. This "joke" went on for a month, maybe longer! Finally, Sophia showed him what to do...