In December 2019, Andrew briefly popped into Ben’s Tinder radius while visiting family in North Carolina. Despite not meeting for a date before Andrew returned home to DC, they continued texting, discovering a love for the same artists and bands, a penchant for illustration, and friends that sounded, well, eerily similar at times.

The more they learned about each other, both were taken aback at how easily they could see themselves fitting into the other’s universe. On New Year’s Eve, Andrew texted Ben a picture of a balloon with a “2020” hat on it, captioned, “My date tonight. Kinda wish you were here. Is that weird?” It definitely was. But Ben wished the same anyway.

After a planned first date in March 2020 fell victim to a global lockdown, Ben and Andrew doubled down on their fledgeling connection. Stuck in their respective homes with only a phone between them, they navigated early pandemic life like so many of us did: apart but together.

When Andrew’s job went fully remote a few months later, he decided to move to North Carolina to spend more time with his family. This, of course, meant that he and Ben would now be living roughly a half hour drive from each other, a fact which they both tried (and failed) to be super chill about. Their first date felt like returning home after a long day. Looking into each other’s eyes for the first time over Korean barbecue, they felt what they’d both known, in one way or another, for months now: this guy was different. 

Over the coming year, Andrew and Ben met each other’s people, putting faces to the names and stories they’d shared. Ben fell headfirst for Andrew’s sweet feline son, Catcher, and after rounds of allergy shots soon forgot what it felt like to sleep without a cat at his feet. As the days rolled by, Andrew and Ben learned each other’s habits and idiosyncrasies. They cooked together. They raised plants together. They found new hobbies together. They made art together. They enjoyed music and silence together. They fell in love.

In June 2021, as Ben began his residency training at UNC Family Medicine, they moved together into a third-story corner apartment that became their first shared home. They combined their plants into an indoor jungle, their favorite prints and paintings into a beautiful (if chaotic) gallery wall, and their furniture into a home that felt like a love letter.

Now sharing joint custody of Catcher, they rode out life’s twists, turns, and beautiful moments together, knowing that they always had their little jungle retreat at the end of each day. As the world began to open up again, they saw the concerts and musicals they’d always talked about, traveled to loved ones from New York City to Berlin, visited national parks, and began to chart a map of life beyond their apartment.

On a peaceful, foggy afternoon at the very end of 2022, atop the highest point of North Carolina's Linville Gorge, Andrew asked Ben to marry him. Ben’s answer, like every other milestone they’d reached together throughout their relationship, felt like second nature. Their lives had already become one. Marriage would be a celebration of what they’d known deep down since those early days: that they were each other’s, now and forever.

And so, here we are. Gearing up for a once-in-a-lifetime weekend with the people we love most in this world. Whether you can make it or not, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of our story. It has been such a joy for us to share our friends and family with each other, and we cannot wait to celebrate with you soon!

Love,

Andrew and Ben