Kate and I met days before my freshman year of high school at a showchoir retreat in a Sheraton conference room. I was sporting a fashionable buzzcut and braces and Kate was taller than me at the time: clearly a setup for love-at-first-sight. Our first real interaction was Kate sitting on my knee for the ballad in our showchoir show. Needless to say, it was the highlight of my young life. As high school progressed, Kate and I became close friends, getting to know each other and our families through various high school events. We kept in touch somewhat regularly after high school with the occasional facetime call at school (which were always the highlight of my week) or friend gathering when we visited home. Following my freshman year at college, Kate and I began to spend time together more regularly both living in Wheaton for the summer of 2019. Thinking I was solidly in the friend-zone, our relationship progressed effortlessly with our parents noticing the transition to romantic feelings before even we did. We decided to take a leap of faith that summer and start dating despite the looming three school years of long-distance ahead of us (Kate in Milwaukee at Marquette and me in Champaign at U of I). While long-distance was, of course, challenging at times, Kate and I would take every chance we could to visit each other at school or meet up at home (my friends lovingly referring to my visits to Kate as "Brian Free Weekends"). As we each finished college, we both moved back to the suburbs concluding long-distance and finally having the opportunity to spend time together on a regular basis. We are so blessed to have such loving families and friends supporting us all these years and we cannot wait to celebrate with you as we move into this exciting new stage of life!