Our Story

There is a version of this story in which Nick takes a different job, Nicole’s mom sells their place in Jupiter a month sooner, and Nick and Nicole pass through life without ever knowing how close they came to finding each other.

Fortunately, that is not their story.

Nick was in Florida because of a job he had chosen from a number of possible paths. Nicole was in Jupiter while her mom was selling their place. Neither of them had planned to be there for the other. Yet, for two weeks, their separate lives arrived at the same little point on the map. They met, spent the next day together, then the next, until seeing each other every day felt like the most natural thing in the world.

They recognized themselves in one another almost immediately. They shared a sense of humor, a way of looking at life, and the rare ability to be together for hours and still wish for more time. Where they differed, they complemented each other. Conversation never felt like something they had to keep alive. It wandered, deepened, turned ridiculous, and found its way back again. In two weeks, they discovered something neither wanted to leave behind.

But Nicole had to return to Michigan, and Nick’s life was still in Florida.

For well over a year, their relationship lived between West Palm Beach and Grand Rapids, measured in flights booked, days counted down, and goodbyes that never grew easier with practice. Every visit gave them more to look forward to. It also made them want the parts of life that could not fit into a visit: a slow morning, a familiar voice in the next room, the comfort of coming home to one another without a return flight waiting at the end.

By then, the job that had brought Nick to Florida allowed him to work remotely. He had no ties keeping him there. The same unlikely job choice that had placed him near Nicole in Jupiter now gave him the freedom to move to Michigan and see what their love could become without a thousand miles between them.

They built a home together. More than six months of shared routines, long conversations, ordinary responsibilities, and unexpected laughter gave them the chance to know each other beyond the excitement of being reunited. What they found was even better. They still wanted more time together. They still chose each other at the end of every day. So Nick asked Nicole to marry him, certain that whatever life brought next, he wanted to meet it beside her.

Today, Nick, Nicole, and Holly are building a life that belongs to all three of them. Nick is proud beyond words to become Holly’s stepdad. Their home is full of laughter, love, and plans for adventures they have yet to imagine, along with plenty of ordinary days they know they will treasure just as much.

Jupiter happened because a dozen details fell perfectly into place. The life they are building now happens because, every day since, Nick and Nicole have chosen each other.