“Maybe love shouldn't be built on a foundation of compromises, but maybe it can’t exist without them either. Not the kind that forces two people into shapes they don’t fit in, but the kind that loosens their grips, always leaves room to grow. Compromises that say, there will be a you-shaped space in my heart, and if your shape changes, I will adapt. No matter where we go, our love will stretch out to hold us, and that makes me feel like… like everything will be okay.”

- Emily Henry, Book Lovers.

Like most modern love stories, Fulton and I met on a dating app. But unlike most modern love stories, when we connected in the endless swiping purgatory, perhaps, we were sewn together by a thread leading us out of the labyrinth of online life into just two old souls having conversations that began with an excited, “me too!” when our interests overlapped, whether it was adoring the tv series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reading, or history.

Quickly fitting into the rhythm of the other conversation Fulton told me described his interests adapting his voice to match the characters he would talk about which could be anything from a novel, tv series or an RPG (roleplaying game). And I told stories about my photography, books, or travels. We recounted travel stories and at the end of dinner we weren’t ready for the night to end, we dropped into Area 51 Ice Cream for a little sweet treat.

After that night, Fulton, so certain he liked me, invited me to meet his friends the next time we hung out, which was the following Tuesday night.

My philosophy? If this man is “the one” I will marry (spoiler alert: he is), then this will mean a lot to him. If he’s not, it will be a really funny story for me to tell. Unsurprisingly, it ended up a little bit of both.

Fast forward just a little over a year, Fulton was picking out a ring.

His plan was to take me to Ole Miss, my alma mater, to propose, but I was not feeling well that evening, so instead he opted to take me to my favorite nearby restaurant, Thai Hut. We sat outside as the sunset on possibly the most perfect spring day - and as all Mississippians know, that isn’t a common occurrence. After dinner, with a second order of rangoons beside a half drank glass of water and an almost empty beer, Fulton got down on one knee.

Then we began planning our forever. Together.