The Foxes | December 2024

On October 19th, 2018 we met at a dance at the Catholic Student Center at Texas Tech University. William was a part of a church organization that put on the dance and Isabella decided to go at the last minute after learning about it on social media a few days prior. Not long after meeting, we felt comfortable with each other, feeling like we came home to a long-lost friend. A week later we went to Sugar Browns near campus (RIP) so we can get to know each other better and we spent the whole night laughing and joking around until the coffee shop closed. After we got kicked out because of closing time, William wanted to take a walk at the local mall but instead got lost and spent the night having fun while getting lost driving around Lubbock in the dark. We both knew we never wanted this night to end so we kept on going out for the rest of that semester as we both quickly started to develop feelings for each other, leading to us to start dating at the end of the Fall 2018 semester. Unfortunately, we ended up going our separate ways towards the end of the Spring 2019 semester as we both individually dealt with mental health issues. The stress from college took a toll on both of us; William was graduating from Texas Tech at the end of Fall 2019 and Isabella was dealing with the aftermath of experiencing tragedy during her senior year a year prior. Despite ending our romantic relationship at the end of Spring 2019, we ran into each other several times until William graduated and left Lubbock in December 2019. We reconnected during the pandemic in 2020. Isabella slid into William's Facebook messages and then we started messaging each other occasionally that summer and Fall 2020 semester, Isabella's final semester at Texas Tech. It wasn't until Isabella sent a graduation picture to William that we started talking frequently and rekindled our friendship. Isabella learned a week before her capstone project was due that William was enlisting to join the Marine Corps. This happens to be the worst timing as she had to quickly create her semester campaign book while worrying about William's future in the Marines because she didn't want him to get deployed to a dangerous warzone or even get killed. William reassured her that his role in the military wasn't deployable, setting Isabella's fears to rest. Once 2021 rolled around, we made the effort to talk frequently before William left for boot camp in April 2021. Many late nights were spent calling and texting each other as spending time together again quickly became the highlight of the day for both of us. William even tried to make a trip down to Lubbock in February but couldn't because of the Great Texas Freeze. April 4, 2021, the night before William flew out to San Diego for boot camp, was the night that we both recognized that we still had feelings for each other but we didn't talk about them. Those mutual unspoken feelings turned out to be real as we sent frequent letters (Isabella sent 2o+ letters!) to each other during those 3 months of Marine Corps boot camp. We got back together on September 29th, 2021, two months after William had wrapped up his time at MCRD. Despite the challenges of being a military couple, we have strived to never give up on each other during difficult times. We reunited in person in 2021, two years after our first relationship.

We didn't get to see much of each other during most of the first year of our relationship because Isabella lived in Lubbock at the time and William's training got extended due to an injury and wasn't allowed to get too far away from base. Starting in the Summer of 2022, we started planning trips since William was going to Virginia for additional training and had a little more freedom compared to his time at ITB in California. We did two trips in Virginia while William was at his school for his military job, He then got stationed in Bremerton, Washington at the end of Summer 2021. Since then, we have tried to see each other whether in San Antonio for William's bi-yearly leave blocks, or during William's federal holiday weekends when Isabella flies up and meets William in the Seattle/Tacoma area. As of June 2024, William has made 4 trips to San Antonio and Isabella has made 2 Virginia trips, 6 Seattle trips (her 7th will be in August), and spent Christmas with William's family in 2022. We got engaged after nearly two years of dating on July 18th, 2023 and we are excited to announce that we will be getting married at the end of the year! Our wedding isn't just a celebration of both of us and our families uniting as we start our own family but it's also a celebration of the trials we went through to make it to this point in our lives. Military life is only a season lasting until April 2026, but we've grown as a couple, leaned on each other, and learned life lessons that will greatly benefit us as we become one. We're thankful for everyone who has supported us on our journey and we can't wait to celebrate with you all in December!