Embarrassing photo taken when we first met in 2011

We first met in the summer of 2011 at a mutual friend’s backyard party. We bonded over a shared love of Star Wars. I remember quickly developing a little crush on Sara and wanting to get to know her more.

Though we went to the same high school, we had no classes together. We mostly saw each other at group hangouts, always floating around the same friend circles. Over the years, we both ended up dating other people, but Sara and I gradually became friends.

After high school graduation, life pulled us in different directions. I moved out to Utah for college. As it often happens, we gradually lost touch. Social media let us keep tabs on each other, but we weren’t really in each other’s lives anymore.

Years later, after finishing college and moving back to Illinois, I started reaching out to old friends, hoping to reconnect, and Sara was among them. She was still smart, funny, and had a personality I found magnetic. Our reunion quickly turned into regular hangouts—grabbing dinner, exploring museums, watching movies, going to the Renaissance Fair, and having regular game nights at my apartment. I loved being around her. Our conversations never got old.

By the time the pandemic hit, we had become best friends. The lockdowns were isolating, but our friendship helped keep me grounded. We’d frequently chat online together and with our circle of friends. At one point, she came to visit and stayed on my couch for two weeks, along with her cat Freyja. We cooked meals together, binge-watched Mr. Robot, and joked around like always. A few months later, Sara and Freyja visited for another week, and these experiences of living together, even temporarily, felt natural and right. I’d been on my own for six years at this point, so sharing my home with my best friend was wonderful.

In 2022, we decided to continue sharing a home by moving into a two-bedroom apartment together. It felt like a fresh chapter for us, and our bond only deepened. We fell in love. What had started as a solid friendship gradually evolved into a partnership built on trust, laughter, and shared dreams. The following year, we bought a house together, and not long after that, I asked her to marry me under the stars after watching the solar eclipse together in April 2024.

Now, in 2025, we’ve built a life full of love, support, and inside jokes that date back more than a decade. We’ve seen each other through every phase—teenagers, young adults, roommates, cat parents, and now, future spouses. It’s been a journey full of twists and turns, but looking back, every step led us here.

We’re so excited for what’s to come, and we’re incredibly grateful to have so many loved ones supporting us as we take this next step. Here’s to a future as beautiful as the story that brought us together.

The summer season of 2011 kicked off at a riverside party at a mutual friend’s McMansion. In the crowd of unfamiliar faces, I gravitated towards another girl. We discussed shared interests attempting to bond. We attended the same school. We had the same mutual friends. However, it was the next comment she made which has stuck with me all these years. “You remind me a lot of my friend Topher,” she told me. “He was supposed to be at this party, but he’s in Florida visiting his grandma.” My friendship with this girl would not flourish, but those words would stay in the back of my mind.

The summer began to slip by and became increasingly hotter. Another party invite came around at the same mutual friend’s house. Despite being advertised as a Slip N’ Slide party, I showed up in my favorite Star Wars shirt and skinny jeans. About an hour after arriving, I was approached by a tall boy who complimented my shirt and the homemade lightsaber (yes, cringe) I had brought to the party. He introduced himself as Topher. Suddenly, the comparison made between us earlier in the summer came back to the forefront of my mind.

We talked for hours. We did have a lot in common. I told him I was craving a smoothie, hoping he would have an excuse to pull me away from the crowd. He apologized that he couldn’t take me out for one because his friend, Rick, had driven him there. I will never know what might have happened if we got those smoothies. However, with the way things have turned out, I am grateful we didn’t.

I friended him on Facebook that night, and he “poked” me the next morning. I poked him back. We would continue poking each other for a couple weeks. However, my hopes were dashed when I learned he started a relationship with another girl. In my depths of teenage despair, I vowed that I would never poke him again. I was sure our constant online contact from this time would never move into the real world again.

We maintained platonic friendly correspondence over the next several years. We dated other people. He went to college out of state, and I would catch fleeting glimpses of his life on social media. When he moved back to Illinois, we would begin to hang out in group settings. He was a good friend.

Suddenly, the pandemic happened. We were both single. He was living alone and desperately lonely. I packed up my cat and belongings and moved into his apartment for two weeks. I was his constant companion during this time. We spent every waking moment together. Then, as it grew dark, I would camp out on the sofa to sleep alone. I spent every night of those two weeks thinking about him. Was he awake in his bed thinking about me?

I desperately tried to come up with the reasons we were not together. The only real “reasons” were just excuses. We had the same values. We made each other laugh. We lived well together. I adored him. I hoped the best for him. He supported me. He cared for me. There was no reason why we shouldn’t be together. We could be. We should be.

Now we are. One home, an extra cat, and a few years together and I would not have it any other way.