Kaitlyn's green eyes.

I noticed them immediately.

Our story began in 2021 when I started my job at the local district attorney's office. During my first few days, an administrative staff member gave my class of newly hired prosecutors a tour of the building.

It was on that tour that I first saw Kaitlyn. Well... I didn't really meet her. She glanced at our group for a moment and then went back to work. Funnily enough, I wouldn't actually interact with her for another seven months. My class and I were assigned to the opposite side of the building.

But I remember thinking at the time: What beautiful eyes she had. I'd like to get to know her.

As luck would have it, I eventually did.

About seven months later, I was transferred to a bureau where Kaitlyn worked closely with the attorneys. Her job was to help people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction find treatment programs and get their lives back on track.

Through our daily interactions, I quickly learned who Kaitlyn was. She was intelligent, kind, and genuine. There wasn't a mean-spirited bone in her body. I could spend paragraphs describing her character, but if I'm being honest, back then I was still getting lost in those green eyes.

You could say I developed a crush.

At the end of 2021, I flew to Hawaii for a friend's wedding. Hawaii was beautiful. Expensive as hell, but beautiful. While I enjoyed the scenery and the ocean breeze, I found myself thinking about Kaitlyn more than once. By the end of the trip, I had made up my mind: when I got back to New York, I was going to pursue her.

Before flying home, I stopped at a Honolulu Cookie Company store and picked up a few cookies for her.

I hoped she'd like them.

She did.

A few months later, I asked if I could take her to dinner at Minetta Tavern for their famous bone marrow and steak.

She said yes.

I was over the moon.

Unfortunately, I was, and still am, terrible at making reservations. So instead of a romantic dinner at Minetta Tavern, our first date ended up being bowling followed by Taco Bell.

Let me tell you, it was a great first date.