Adam and I met in early 2023, when my brother, Cole, began a new Dungeons and Dragons campaign. He invited several of his friends to join in, and we were both a part. While we played D&D together every few weeks, our friendship really began in the summer of 2023 when we began chatting outside of sessions. We talked casually for a while. I don’t think either of us knew the other person might be interested in something more than friendship until late October/early November of that same year.

We went on our first date in November of 2023. Since it had been so long since I had been out on a date with anyone, I wanted to keep it between us at first. That did not work out at all. Adam showed up to pick me up shortly before I finished working for the day. Literally minutes after he walked through the door, Cole came home. Cole and Adam are friends, and Cole immediately wanted to hang out with Adam for a bit. My parents were in the basement working, so I figured maybe I could still manage to get out on this date without anyone suspecting anything. Then, as I was getting ready, Caleb showed up. The one person in my family that didn’t live in the same house as me. He was there to put together flowers for the cast of White Christmas for opening night, so he wasn’t leaving anytime soon. Poor Adam was sitting waiting for me to finish getting ready, his face red. Caleb kept asking me where we were going and what we were doing, and I was doing my best to dodge answering any questions. Then Elise, Caleb’s fiance, showed up too. I was beside myself and rushed to get out the door before I had to answer any questions. So much for keeping it between us.

Our first date went well and we began spending even more time together. Throughout the early months of our relationship, we had some ups and downs as we tried to figure out if we were ready to commit to a relationship. We stayed close throughout and upon having a conversation about waiting to date for a while until we figured out what we wanted, we both immediately realized we wanted to be together.

Throughout our time together, we have grown so close and I can truly say that Adam is my best friend. We have gone on many adventures together, met each other’s families, and spent hours in deep conversations about all manner of topics. We both love to play video games together, find new restaurants and museums to explore, and of course, play Dungeons and Dragons.

Adam proposed on October 13, on a Sunday after church at one of the parks near our church. He picked this location because we always talked about going over there after church, but never had. We spend every Sunday together, so it was the perfect day to propose. He asked one of my friends (and now Maid of Honor), Mackenzie, to come up to Smyrna and get some photos of him proposing. She did an amazing job, and I was so excited to see her when I finally turned around! It was a beautiful day.

We are both so excited to start our lives together. May 18 can’t come soon enough!