In 2015, we were both working at Walt Disney World at the Festival of the Lion King show, when our paths crossed backstage. We went on a first date to the lively Hoop Dee Doo Revue dinner show, where the conversation lasted several hours past dinner, a promising first start.

Later that evening, Sam received a job offer that would come with a move back to California, just three weeks later. Despite this, we decided to keep seeing each other for those last few weeks, and were basically inseparable that whole time.

After the move, we mutually agreed that we did not want a long-distance relationship. But after a few months of daily phone calls, we finally admitted that we were doing just that. This kept going for six years. During that time, Connell moved back to family in Las Vegas, while Sam worked for two years in California before moving to Kansas City for school. The distance was painful, but