Richard and I met for the first time when I was 4 years old and he was 6. Our dads were best friends. They lost touch, and subsequently, so did we. I met Richard for the second time in April of 2007 through a friend. He drove me home that night, and asked me for a date for the next night. I said yes.

It was the perfect date. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going. He drove me to the lake. We just sat on a swing on the dock and talked for hours. At that point, I didn’t realize that we had known each other as children. Once I figured it out, we just laughed and our families laughed at the situation.

Within two weeks, I knew that I was in love with Richard, but I didn't want to tell him first. I waited a few days, hoping he would say it, but I could tell that he was too shy. I finally just blurted it out while we were watching TV. At that moment, I realized that there was something different about us, and that we were going to be together forever. We got engaged in July 2007, and have been together since.