Shannon and David technically met during freshman year of college in a creative writing class, but they never actually spoke to each other. (Shannon DOES have notes from David about her short stories, but she won’t let him see them.) Two years later, Shannon and David met at an IU football tailgate. The rest, as they say, is history. (But you should keep reading, there’s more.) Shannon and David’s chemistry was overwhelming. David had never met a girl who was beautiful, funny, AND great at sports. Mostly great at sports. He loved how she could laugh at herself and the way they could make fun of each other the way his group of best friends did. Shannon loved how caring and thoughtful David was. She always felt special with him. David introduced Shannon to her favorite show, The Office, and Shannon introduced David to the important things in life: emojis and sushi. But Shannon and David had different plans for after college. David planned on moving to LA to pursue a career in Hollywood, and Shannon wanted to go to grad school close to home and begin her career as an occupational therapist. With a fork in the road hanging over their heads, they tried to part ways. Goodbye proved to be an impossible task. There was a connection between them that wouldn’t break. When David moved to LA after college, the couple decided to break up on good terms in case they ever ended up living in the same area again. The “breakup” lasted three days. David researched OT schools in LA and attended an informational session at West Coast University. Shannon applied and was accepted (duh, she’s a genius), and after seven months of long distance the couple moved in together in the LA neighborhood Toluca Lake. Over the next four years, they explored Southern California, hosted family and friends, lounged on beaches, and ate at their favorite restaurants. Some of their memorable adventures included hikes, whale watching, poppy fields, Hollywood speakeasies, the Magic Castle, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, Malibu, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Catalina, San Diego, and Orange County. But they both knew early on that LA wasn’t a place where they would want to settle down for good, and as they (kind of) matured, they decided it was time to move back to the Midwest. During the drive home, their adventures continued in Santa Fe, at the Grand Canyon, and almost to a meteor crater. Shannon and David were staying at the Simons’ house while looking for jobs and an apartment downtown when the pandemic hit. And while disinfecting groceries and social distancing weren’t fun, they made the most of their time by hanging at the pool, binge watching TV shows, and creating an indoor bar crawl tradition. After a year, they moved downtown, where they live today with their new puppy, Luca. If you’ve gotten this far, you’ve made it to the part that counts. Let’s ditch the third person point of view: We know that we bring out the very best in each other. I have my head in the clouds, and she has her feet on the ground. I pull her out of her comfort zone, and she does an amazing job of making sure that I take a second to think… and look before I leap. Before we met each other, I drank 2% milk, and she drank nonfat. We both drink 1% milk these days. Our favorite saying is “Yesterday, today, tomorrow.” It means that we loved each other yesterday. We love each other today. And we’ll love each other tomorrow.