They say you are most likely to find love when you are least expecting it, and that certainly holds true for our story…

We met at an “executive wellness retreat” during a unique time in both of our respective lives. It was a time where we were very focused on improving ourselves, doing the hard work needed to grow, acknowledging our past traumas and dysfunctional behavior, and at a point where we were both 100% honest with ourselves and each other and at our most raw and real.

While there was certainly a mutual attraction when we first met, neither of us were looking to begin a romantic attachment, and we began our relationship as friends who shared many late night conversations, long walks, and trips to the dog park together over the first months of knowing each other.

During that time we had the privilege to meet each other’s families. John-Isaac was introduced first to Emily’s Grandmother (Nano, the matriarch of the McGrew family), and was kindly invited by her mother Margie to dinner, then Thanksgiving and their Christmas Party where he met Emily's brother Michael. Emily had the opportunity to get to know John-Isaac’s children (Jensen and Hayden) and sister Christianna during Halloween and Thanksgiving and his older children (John-Isaac, II, Julia, and Brandon) shortly thereafter.

Soon it became evident that our friendship was blossoming into something more and we both felt a special connection that was deeper than either of us had experienced before.

After some time, during which we were practically inseparable, on April 26th, 2023 John-Isaac asked Emily if we could share the rest of our lives together.

Since that time, we have shared an incredible number of wonderful adventures and challenging moments together including gathering up Emily's possessions from Florida and Alabama (during which time John-Isaac's mother passed away), attending John-Isaac's mother’s funeral together in Daytona Beach, John-Isaac's brother’s wedding in Poland, walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain (during which Emily's brother unexpectedly passed away), visiting Porto, Portugal, Madrid, Spain, Rome, Pisa, Genoa, Portofino, Florence, Milan, and Venice in Italy, a week in Santorini and two weeks in Paros, Greece, and finally (and unexpectedly) London for 3 days where we did back to school shopping for Jensen and Hayden.

During our time together we have experienced incredible awe and joy, bereavement and loss, lived with nothing for days after our luggage was lost, watched incredibly beautiful sunsets over the ocean, performed emergency tick removal at 1am, survived intense torrential downpours (Pisa/Camino), walked over 120 KM in 5 days, overcame anxiety provoking altitudes, and made it through over 16 flights, 28 straight hours in the car together, 7 trains, and 1 ferry ride.

Together we have laughed, we have loved, we have cried and through it all we are grateful and blessed that God brought us to each other.