Our Story
I told Lelia I wanted to write this part.
I've been waiting for this day for a long, long time. Eight years ago, I was a 19-year-old college sophomore stuck in a dank, windowless basement for the first day of a chemistry lab. Into that little room strolled a tall, confident, gorgeous girl I immediately knew was fully out of my league.
But I got lucky. Our first interaction: she took a second longer than usual to operate a machine by my lab seat. I reached over and hit the button that I myself had struggled to find a few minutes earlier. As if I was a total pro at this stuff. I like to think that's the moment she knew.
Our second interaction was the following week, again in the lab. We were standing by the doorway, and she made a mistake I have never let her live down: she asked me if I was an athlete. (As a lifelong athlete herself, she really should have known better.) I told her the truth, then asked for her name. When she told me, I said the first thing that came to my mind: Wow. That's beautiful.
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Thankfully, that didn't scare her off. And to my delightful surprise, it turned out that twice a week that semester, we shared back-to-back classes in lecture halls with no assigned seating. That meant hours of quiet whispers, muffled laughs, and what felt like something much, much more important than taking notes. Those classes turned to hours of conversation in the library (we were "studying"), then long walks around campus late into the night. Within weeks, we were inseparable.
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And, thank God, we've been inseparable since. Through interstate moves and long-distance; through law school and medical school; through more trips and experiences than I can count; through good times and bad. We've grown up a little, and changed for the better--but through it all has been one constant, steady source of joy.
Leli, I love you, and I can't wait to marry you. And to our friends and family who supported and formed us along the way: I can't thank you enough. We can't wait to celebrate with you!
