Their fate was set in an instant, like the flash of a film camera, the moment Jess walked into the last class of her first semester at Kennesaw State University and locked eyes with Barry. There was a strange sense of familiarity between them, but neither could understand why. It was as if they had met in a previous lifetime. This began the countdown of great friends to lovers, a slow burn and tale as old as time.

Both budding in their careers post graduation, the impetus of their romance began in the fall of 2021 by Adam, Jess’s best friend. One night at a bar while Jess expressed to Adam how much she missed spending time with Barry, he took her phone into his own hands and texted Barry to meet up. This shifted Jess and Barry back into focus. It took one reunion to know that they still fit together in every aspect and the film negatives finally started to develop. Unfortunately, Barry was waiting for a return to office email from California, unsure if it would come in days, or months. He explained that it made him hesitant to reach out to her before he knew his fate.

They both decided it didn’t matter, that they’d roll their film strip and spend whatever time they had left building precious memories and laughing from the deepest parts of their bellies. They spent the holidays together and even had their first vacation to Savannah, GA. They felt like the luckiest people alive to be in such blissful love, but as spring arrived, so did the email.

Imminent change made them both nervous but there was no way they could let go of what they had built together.

~Barry moved to California in May of 2022, and Jess met him there in their apartment in October.~

In February of 2024, after years of traveling, working hard, and loving each other harder, Barry got down on one knee and asked Jess to marry him. On the shore of Monterey Bay, California in front of a burning purple sunset, Barry asked Jess if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. She said “Yes”.