We first met on a middle school playground, where a childhood crush and a little help from friends sparked the beginning of our story. We spent those early days going to Friday night football games together and talking between classes. When Alex moved away toward the end of sixth grade, we stayed connected the best way we knew how at the time—Skyping on our parents’ computers, laughing and catching up whenever we could.

As the years went on, life got busier and we eventually lost touch. Then, during our junior year of high school, Alex reached out to Mikayla on Instagram to see how she was doing. One conversation led to another, and before long we were going to homecoming together, spending time hanging out, and cheering each other on at soccer games. It didn’t take long to realize what we’d found again.

College took us to different places, but we made it work with frequent visits and a lot of effort. After graduation, Mikayla moved to Columbus, where we built a life together and eventually bought a home. Now we share it with our two dogs, Willow and Cosmo, and our cat, Ziggy—and we’re excited to keep writing the rest of our story side by side.