We met the first weekend of our freshman year at Austin College because we were in the same freshman seminar class: Gods, Heroes, and Human Virtues. The first night of orientation, we met with our class, and I saw Reed from across the room and thought he was very cute. Within the first couple of weeks of freshman year, I had a girl in my hall get his number from a boy in his hall that she was seeing. We spent the first semester of freshman year meeting at the swing between our dorms to talk about our class readings and solve the worlds problems. In January of our freshman year, we spent a lot of time together. I fell in love with Reed one day making baked potato soup in the basement of Dean Hall and dancing to country music. We dated for most of the rest of our undergrad careers and spent a few years after college apart while Reed finished his teacher program and I moved around the country. We reconnected when I came back to Texas in 2018 and started seeing one another again. We still love to cook and dance in the kitchen. There is no one I would rather spend my life with. I look forward to many years of dancing and new recipes!

I’ve been lucky enough to meet and grow in love alongside someone who has made me a better person ever since we first met at Austin College. Johanna has always been a bright spot in my life, a person whose verve and spirited approach to life has made me more open, more caring, and more accepting of the twists and turns of every journey we’ve undertaken together. There’s no one I’d rather travel with, listen to music with, grow a garden with, work cattle with, or build a life with than her. A good partner makes the days easier. A great partner makes the days better. I am most fortunate to be looking forward to perpetually better days.