We grew up just down the road from each other, even went to the same elementary school, and somehow it would take us 30 more years to finally meet.

Ryan lived in Denver and Megan lived in Cincinnati, but somehow, California brought us together. Ryan was in San Francisco for work, Megan was in Montecito visiting her sister, and somewhere between the two, we matched on a dating app.

A few weeks later, Ryan was back in Cincinnati for the holidays and asked Megan to coffee. We met at Findlay Market, wandered through the vendors, and Ryan proudly told Megan about his smoked meats. Megan responded, “I’m a vegetarian.” Things were off to a promising start!

Megan was immediately drawn to Ryan’s clever wit and Hollywood looks, and Ryan loved Megan’s laugh and the ease of being around her.

Ryan returned to Colorado, but neither of us was quite ready to leave it there. He asked if he could fly back to Cincinnati to take Megan to dinner. A few weeks later, he did, and we had our last first date ever.

Megan fell in love with Ryan’s love for the outdoors, his immense love for his family and friends, and his steady way of moving through the world. Ryan fell in love with Megan’s sense of humor, her closeness with her family, and the warmth she brought into his life.

From there, everything seemed to fall gently into place.

Life together has been beautifully uncomplicated. The time has flown by, filled with long dinners, old recipes and new ones, music drifting through the house, rivers and road trips, weekends with family, friends gathered around the table, nieces and nephews in our laps, and the quiet realization that we’d both been hoping for this kind of life all along.