Caroline crashed my familys Fathers Day at the lake in June of 2021. She was one of my cousin’s best friends from Tri Delta at UofSC. I immediately was drawn to her beauty, personality, and how she laughed at all of my jokes that day. We ended up exchanging social media accounts and kept in touch over the next month.
Fast forward a few weeks, I’m traveling to Columbia, SC, for my cousin’s 21st birthday party. I get down around lunch time and my cousin tells me that we’re going to Salty Nut, and “that girl Caroline” from the lake is going to be with us most of the day. Little did I know, that day would change my life forever. We spent all day eating, drinking and eventually having the party for my cousin that night. We end up going to Nightcaps in 5 Points, and Caroline and I were inseparable for the rest of the night. She stole my hat and wore it around the bar the rest of the night. As I was about to head back to my cousin’s for the night, Caroline came up and kissed me in the bar. This Magic Moment by Ben E King and The Drifters starting playing in my head.
The next day, I was supposed to head back home to Charlotte, but Caroline convinced me to stay and come to the pool with her and her friends. What started as just a pool day turned into another entire day being spent together. Talking about life, concerts, and the new Eric Church album that had recently come out.
During the weekend, Caro had mentioned that she was flying out of Charlotte to go home for Nashville the next weekend and I saw an opportunity to make my move. I offered to let her park her car at my apartment, and then I could drive her to the airport so she could save some money on parking. Thankfully, she said yes, and I picked her up August 1st once she got back. I asked her “Have you ever been to Charlotte before? Do you want to go get a beer and I show you around?” She told me absolutely but she couldn’t stay all day because she had presidential duties to attend to back in Columbia that night. We walked the light rail and stopped at Sycamore and Suffolk Punch, getting beers at those places and just getting to know each other further. I told her I had a hockey game later that afternoon that she should stick around for, and I told her we could get sushi after if she did. She quickly moved her meetings to the next morning and stayed for my game before heading back to Columbia.
Over the next 2 months, we would travel between Charlotte and Columbia going to see each other and spending as much time as we could together. The week after Caro’s birthday, her twin sister, Christina, and her boyfriend, Matthew, came to Columbia for the USC/Kentucky game. We went out Friday and tailgated all day Saturday with friends and family. That night, we went to Jake’s Bar in Columbia to see the end of the Clemson/NC State game that Clemson lost in 2OT. I went inside to watch it by myself and came out disappointed, but instead of being greeted with jabs about how Clemson lost, Caroline had gotten me a burger and said “I’m sorry Clemson lost. I got you some food so I hope that helps.” A Gamecock showing sympathy to a Tiger??? I had to keep this one around. So that day, September 26th, 2021, we made our relationship official!

We get to start our married life together on June 14th, 2025 and we cannot wait to see what the rest of our story entails!