Wyatt's Side: After 28 Years of Searching for a true love I found myself in the Painted Pin, A small luxury bowling alley, at a large singles event. I grew tiresome of the meaningless conversations and took reprieve in a talking circle of people sharing their life stories and experiences, each person embellishing their self-worth/wealth and stroking their own egos. Then I saw her, the brightest light in the room, she was actively engaging in conversations with men who had no business bothering her. However she remained steady, determined to receive every unwanted interaction with sincerity and a complex cheer that could never be matched. She finished her conversation and asked to sit amongst the talking circle. I delighted in the fact that she too wanted a rest or break from the wear of unwanted conversations. She had entered the conversation as I was sharing war stories of life on motorcycles and losing my best friend but she listened and felt every word as if we were only talking alone. Her cheerful demeanor continued into the night as she told her own stories and listened to others. I decided to wrap up the night but I could not leave without sharing a shred of wisdom to this beacon of light outshining everyone in the room, I said "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I think you have just the brightest energy in the room and I can assure you that you are definitely going to find what you deserve. With that I attempted my leave from the venue but before leaving what do I do to say goodbye to everyone you might ask? Well I advise everyone that there is a resident pass for the Georgia aquarium, that's it a walking advertisement... Like light from a light house to the dark sea, this beacon of light approached me and asked for more information on the aquarium so what did I do? Told her I would get her information from the organizers and with one last ask of her name I attempted to flee once more. On the third and final attempt she ended up having me send her the information directly and thus the dialogue that introduced our love to this world was formed.

I moved to Atlanta in January 2023, after spending 5 years living in Germany. I was nervous and excited to be moving back to the US, and to a new city that I had only visited in passing. I had two goals for moving back to the US: to adopt a cat, and to (hopefully) fall in love. In March of 2023, I adopted my sweet baby cat, Minnie, from Paws Atlanta (amazing shelter!) and put the full force of my attention into falling in love. I didn't want to use Dating Apps, I preferred to meet people in person. This led me to the dating service 8@8, which matches 4 single men and 4 single women for dinners around Atlanta at 8 PM. Once a month, they have single social events where you get to meet everyone in the program, not just the individuals you are matched with on dinners. By the end of 2023, I was ready to give up on dating. I didn't like anyone I was being matched with on the dinners, but I still had a few months left of my membership. In January of 2024, the singles event was hosted at the Painted Pin in Buckhead. I decided to go, giving my search for love another chance in the new year. I spent my time bowling, and talking with people who didn't interest me. Towards the end of the night, I decided to sit in a circle where people were talking and sharing stories. The man speaking when I took a seat had a long beard, a finger tattoo(!) and the most captivating smile I had ever seen. His presence enveloped the room, his story flowing with charm, wit, and empathy. I locked into his story and everyone else fell away until it was just the two of us. When he was done speaking, he stood up and came over to me and told me that I had the brightest energy in the room and that I would find what I was looking for. With this compliment, he turned on his heel and walked quickly away. By the time his words sunk in, I thought; you are the one that I'm looking for! So I took off after him. Luckily he was slowed down while bidding adieu to the rest of the group, and he mentioned that each January there is a Georgia Aquarium pass deal for anyone who was interested. I said "I'm interested! Do you want my number to send me the info?" He said "No, I'll get your contact details from the event organizers" and began his mad dash to the door. I thought to myself, I can't let him get out that door without giving him my number! I gave chase and caught up with him one more time. "Here's my number" I said, typing it into his phone. With that we both left into the rainy January night. The next day, he texted me the Aquarium information and followed it up with "When are you free to go?" Three days later we had our first date at the Aquarium, our love story beginning beneath the shadows of whale sharks.