We first met in 8th grade through a mutual friend. Later we each asked this friend to give each other our numbers, but since this friend had a crush on Michael, we never ended up connecting. We later met again through a different mutual friend our sophomore year in high school and starting spending time together. We weren’t quite ready for a relationship yet, so we both moved on for a few years. After graduating high school, we started spending time together again. Pretty quickly we started dating and fell madly in “loke” (ask Michael). We have been through multiple degrees, licenses and certificates, jobs, personal challenges, friends, losses, homes, and pets together. In June of this year we will be moving 10 hours away to Nebraska where Michael will begin working on his art degree and Elissa will finish up her last year of school. We were boyfriend/girlfriend for almost 7 years, fiancés for about 1.5 years, and will be married on April 16, 2022 – though we have been best friends through it all.