Kellz and I met playing basketball at the gym in 2021. Although, if you ask him, we didn’t become friends until almost a year later. Kellz and our friend Wazzy claimed that I was “unapproachable” at the time we first met (sorry I have an RBF). I guess I wasn’t looking for friends when I first started playing basketball at the gym.

Everything changed in February of 2022. Kellz and Wazzy were the first ones in the gym to learn what I was going through, the hardest most pivotal moment in my life. I had just lost my best friend in a car accident. They were there for me through that and more. We formed a friendship not only with each other but with a group of about 6 or 7 guys from the gym. We would play basketball, work out, go to lunch, Jamba Juice, play video games, etc. This was the summer of 2022.

Kellz went through a lot in 2022 as well. He was going through a separation from his ex-wife and raising their two boys. Just as I leaned on Wazzy and Kellz during my hard time, he leaned on us during his. Kellz was left with nothing outside of his boys and his friends. He was in a city where he didn’t know anyone outside of the gym squad, had no family to lean on, and had no support system outside of his friends who lived hours away. I knew that he needed support during this time, and felt blessed that I could be there for someone who was there for me when I needed it. Our trio (Wazzy, Kellz, and I) grew closer and were truly there for each other through everything. My family also opened their hearts to Kellz and the boys. They became family to us long before we even considered being together.

By the beginning of 2023, Kellz was going through a court battle, working on getting his Master’s degree, working full time as a SPED teacher, going through an intern program with night classes, and still managing to be a fully present and wonderful father. By this time, Kellz, Wazzy and I had all moved into the same neighborhood. Kellz and I continued to grow closer as I would help and support him by caring for the boys when he had classes and taking them to school/dropping them off when he needed me to. As my connection with Kellz got stronger, my connection to the boys did as well.

By the end of 2023, almost two years after Cassi passed away and a year and a half after Kellz started going through a divorce, we finally started to see what those around us had been seeing for a while. There was a short period where we got scared of “taking our friendship to the next level”. We even felt we (He) needed space for a few days. That space turned into “yeah we don’t want to be apart”. We knew we cared for each other and valued each other’s friendship. I knew I loved his boys, and we both knew we had the same goals in life and could truly be there for one another. My mom and Marlena would tell us, “JUST KISS AND SEE IF THERE'S A SPARK!!” Well, we did, and guess what… there was a spark! (hehehe). We locked in our relationship on December 1st, 2023. We were already so close and such good friends that it was serious right away. He proposed on October 26, 2024, and it was the best day of his life (hehehe). Best day of MY LIFE!!

We met on the court as a team, and now we’ll be a team for life. Our motto for each other is “You deserve the world” and now we get to live our entire lives trying to give it to each other. It’s only up from here!