When Ashley and Isaac first met, it was a wholly typical 21st century romance. That is, they matched on Tinder. Ashley had moved to Kansas City from South Carolina just 5 months before and had only halfheartedly decided to date. Isaac, who was a KC native born and raised, had been on the app for years, leaving a trail of disappointed first dates like breadcrumbs behind him. Despite these disparate expectations, the connection was instant. Jokes, GIFs, and compliments shot from phone to phone like stars in the night, and a first date was set for November 9th, 2021, at the Moti Mahal Indian restaurant.

On first meeting, their manners were formal; warm, but reserved. Ashley was polite, sweet, and overly-demure. Isaac was gallant, brash, and overly-intellectual. Each tried too hard to impress the other. And yet, even then, rays of authenticity glimmered through these facades, just enough to catch one another’s eye. In time, these walls would fall, as each felt themself drawn to the other. Not only drawn to, but loved, nurtured, and changed by the other in ways that they had never thought possible.

As the months passed, they spent more and more time together, said “I love you” together, went on vacations together, moved in together, shared life’s highs and lows together. And yet, for all the big moments, the richness of their bond was most savored in small, spontaneous acts of affection. Enjoying an indoor picnic on the floor of Ashley’s studio apartment. Dancing in the kitchen while waiting for the soup to boil. Long, intimate talks about their values on the balcony of their shared apartment. And the exquisite feeling of being each other's favorite person.

Through these moments, big and small, their love grew, and they found themselves changed by it. Isaac, nurtured by the depth and sincerity of Ashley’s conversation and conviction, found himself flourishing in a world where he was once closed off and cold. Ashley, anchored by Isaac’s constant, unwavering devotion, would discover unknown depths of strength and confidence within herself. And when Isaac proposed in the misty Kansas Flint Hills in April of 2025, it wasn’t so much a question as an affirmation of what they had created; a love that was both as stable as the ground beneath their feet and as dynamic as an ocean wave; a love they would continue to build and explore for the rest of their lives.