In July of 2020, a travel nurse from Texas after working in Charleston, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, Palo Alto, and Seattle, moved to Sacramento and met a boy from Florida. The nurse—let’s call her Calli—had no intentions of falling in love. Indeed, she was an adventurer and not looking to set down roots with anyone, anywhere, at any time. This boy—we’ll call him Ethan—was an Airman looking to leave the military and become a lawyer, who wasn’t looking for a future wife. So, what invisible strings must there have been, pulling them together to that coffee shop in Sacramento, California? For Calli, when she was around Ethan, things felt…right. Even though she tried to deny it, the world around her would change. Suddenly, everything felt warmer, more fun, and more joyful. When that tall, dreamy, dork talked, Calli finally learned what it felt like to get butterflies in her stomach. And when she found out that Ethan was a fellow Whovian, also hated how Game of Thrones ended, loved whisky and sarcasm, believed in science and kindness, and loved her big, curly hair, she was a goner. It didn’t take long for Calli to understand that she loved Ethan, even though doing so would mean setting down those roots she tried so long and hard to avoid. For Ethan, Calli was a world-shattering wildcard he didn’t let himself believe was possible to draw. So sure, was he that his ambitions of becoming an attorney would make any potential long-term relationship unsuccessful, that it’d be illogical to expect a budding relationship to bloom under those circumstances, that he blocked out the desire to set down his own roots until he accomplished that goal. But that plan for his life couldn’t account for the happiness Calli brought into his life. Having her in his life felt like having the sun melt the ice encapsulating his heart, and he would have given anything to spend his life being warmed by her sunlight. It took getting over himself and his own solitary ideas of his future, but slowly, he let her do just that. They made each other laugh until they cried. They watched the movies from their childhoods that Ethan really should have seen before becoming an adult but never did. They played games on their phones in silence while listening to audiobooks. They blasted Taylor Swift until Ethan was a bona fide Swiftie. They made up silly dances while sipping on Old Fashions. Calli realized growing with someone was not the same thing as sacrificing one’s independence and was ready to stop going it alone. They moved in together. They had lots of quality “Netflix & chill” time. They adopted a fur baby named Tabitha Jane so that Lady Mimi the Chiweenie (their first born) had a friend to play with. They crossed oceans and explored so many wonderful and new places together. They moved from sunny California to swampy Florida, and to their surprise found that they loved (some of) its places and people. They ventured back to California to start Law School (yes, that is a “they” adventure). And then they got engaged. But above all, they loved each other more than they ever thought possible. For Calli and Ethan, life together was both their greatest adventure and the best logical decision they ever made. Of course, we are Calli and Ethan in this love story, and this is just the beginning of our song. Thank you all for being a part of it. ❤️