We're getting married!

Samantha and David were good friends in high school, but they lost touch afterwards due to a glitch in Facebook. David kept trying to reach out, but the messages never went through. Fast-forward seven years, and Samantha was making an online dating profile to help her friend test out an app. While considering profiles on the dating app, Samantha told her friend about that one guy in high school who was super nice and always down to hang out, and how she was pretty sure he liked her. After Samantha agreed to an informal coffee shop date with someone from the app, she randomly checked Facebook for the first time in over 8 months; and what did she see? A friend request from that sweet guy from high school! She accepted the request and the two started talking again. They immediately realized how cute they would have been together in high school, and quickly agreed to go on a date. Samantha canceled the original date she had planned and forgot all about online dating, having found an amazing person from her past that she knew would be a wonderful match.

David was the fun guy from high school who was always ready for a trip to the roller skating rink or the pizza place down the street from our houses. Samantha was the sweet girl who genuinely cared about everyone and always planned fun outings. Once they started dating, they realized how similar they are. They have many of the same interests, they share the same humor, and they often react with the same joke. It quickly became a thing that at least once a day they would say the same thing at the same time. When they first started dating, David's friends would tease them, saying: "Oh, no! There's two of them!" Even now, they both love spontaneous adventures and laughing with each other.

David: On our 3rd date, Samantha wrote a very sweet Valentine's Day card which took up both halves of the inside of the card with the kindest words I’ve been given. The card described how excited she was to date me, how much she enjoyed our friendship in high school, and how wonderful she thought I was. We sat next to each other as I read it, and when I was done, I couldn’t stop myself from turning to her and blurting out "I love you". I was of course immediately embarrassed for having no other words to say to her for the thoughtful gift. Sam says she thought it was surprising so early in our relationship, but thankfully she also found it extremely cute. Samantha: We went to his parents' house for a week during Covid. My family told me not to come back unless I got a negative Covid test before returning. These were the days when at home kits were non-existent, so I had to get up at 5:30am to drive 2 hours away to the nearest Kaiser from his parents' house. When it was time to get up, David came into my room to tell me good morning. I said I was surprised he was up, and he told me that he stayed up all night to make sure to see me off in the morning. I groggily replied a garbled, "I love you." I played it off as if I didn't say anything, and he went to sleep after I left. I immediately called Pardis - who is on the East Coast - freaking out about how I said that so early into our relationship (2 months in). She said not to worry, and that he probably didn't hear it; well, he did hear it, but he pretended not to so I could save face. From then on, there were many "I love you's" and we are both so excited that there will be many more to come.

Our relationship started much like a romantic comedy: the sweet guy waits years for the girl to notice him, and once she does, they are so similar that they keep saying the same things at the same time. As surprising as that is, what is really striking is the amount of care, communication, and respect we have for each other. Throughout our relationship, we have navigated through challenges, constantly checking in with each other and finding solutions to life’s problems together. Everyone knows life is not always sunshine and rainbows, but both of us have been and will always be committed to helping the other. We lean on each other, love and support each other, and comfort each other. We love being endlessly cheesy and laughing together, growing and bettering ourselves, and supporting each other in our pursuits. We are extremely excited to take the next steps, and we can't wait to tell the world how much we care about one another. We are so glad that you are all supporting us as well, and we look forward to seeing you and celebrating with you soon!