Three Summers to Forever

Love that grew in its own perfect timing.

We met in the summer of 2018 when I was starting my first year as a lifeguard and he was the supervisor everyone admired. Between long shifts and end-of-day check-ins, we became true friends — the kind who could vent, joke, and be vulnerable without fear. That friendship became home.

In 2020 I left for college and thought that chapter was over, but fate pulled me back for one last short summer in 2021. That summer I saw him differently. I fell for his gentleness, patience, and the way he cared for everyone around him. Still, nothing happened until September 12, 2021, when I was finally no longer under his supervision and the timing became ours.

Soon after, we took a trip to Atlantic City with my brother. We laughed nonstop, wandered the boardwalk, and even had a messy night at Wet Willies we still laugh about today. When I casually admired a ring in a Swarovski window, he went back the next morning and surprised me with a promise ring. A promise to forever. 

That’s when I knew he was the one. 
That night, under the Atlantic City lights, he told me he loved me.