Our story began in 2020 at the University of Arkansas, in the infamous all-girls freshman dorm: “Reid Hall.” Mary Van and I were gathered at Reid for a “Bachelor” watch party (Pilot Pete’s season, real ones remember). Our first interaction was full of banter, laughs, and poking fun of the Bachelor contestants—characteristics which remain true of our relationship today. Over the next three weeks, MV and I became fast friends, unaware that our worlds were about to slow to a halt. In March of 2020, we got sent home due to the COVID pandemic; Mary Van to Memphis, and me to Austin. Our friendship didn’t falter during the lockdown. We kept up with each other through suspiciously long facetimes, occasionally to the tune of 5–6 hours. We even had a “10pm text” ritual, in which I would text MV something funny every night at exactly 10pm (they had a low hit rate, but clearly something worked).

By the time we returned to Arkansas in the fall of 2020, the irony of our friendship was that it had blossomed, not withered, while we were two states apart. We picked up right where we left off, with what we called “in-person facetimes”—our code for simply driving around Fayetteville and chatting. As we spent more and more time together, it became clear that what we had was more than a friendship. Our in-person facetimes turned into certified dates (first date documented above), which turned into the beginning of our dating relationship in December of 2020. Almost five years later, our shared lives have been packed full with more laughs, growth, and in-person facetimes than we ever bargained for. We can’t wait to celebrate our past and look forward to our future with you all on May 16th.