From Julia’s perspective: We met through social media... sort of. When I was in middle school at Hebron Christian Academy in Dacula, Brett was two years older than me and knew my sister. Since 2014, Brett followed me on social media but we had not talked in person at this point. We actually discovered we went on a double date together but we were not each other's dates. Our paths would barely cross, and we kept missing each other in our middle school years. In 2019, we reconnected on Instagram while Brett was in the military. I immediately wrote off the relationship because it was long distance, and he had just deployed in Okinawa. However, Brett stayed in touch with me through countless Facetime, phone calls, and texts. Before we knew it, we developed an online relationship. With the time differences and busy schedules, I found myself on the phone with him until the sun came up. We sent each other care packages back and forth and expressed we wanted to be a couple even though we could not physically be together. I was determined to meet him in person to further solidify our relationship. I mustered up the courage to buy a ticket to Hawaii (where he was stationed) and meet him at his military base. Of course, Covid happened. I pushed my flight back and at this point, we had been online dating for 6 months. A couple more months passed and again, Covid canceled my flight and we both debated calling it quits. Finally, after 11 months of talking online, Brett received leave to come home for two weeks. We met for the first time on Thanksgiving in 2020 already knowing everything about each other. Not only did I did I meet Brett for the first time that day, I also met his entire family. After that day, we were inseparable.

I remember our first Christmas together after a year of long distance. Julia surprised me with tickets to a Christmas light show, where we drove through various beautiful lights. With Christmas music playing in the background, she sat up on her window to get a clearer view of the lights. As I drove through the illuminated display, I looked over and saw her angelic smile as she sang along to the music. While staring at her, adorned in gorgeous red, blue, and green lights, everything seemed to move in slow motion. I thought to myself, 'This is the woman I want to protect, spend every Christmas with, and embrace the ups and downs of life. I'm going to marry her one day so that I can see that smile every morning for the rest of my life.' Since then, her smile has been the best part of my days. She is my person, and I feel incredibly blessed to have her choose me.