Chance! Not just the name of our one-year-old puppy – also a theme throughout our time together.

Ben was back in his South Florida hometown on a weekend trip he had postponed more than once when he got the chance of a lifetime to briefly impress Ryan enough to keep his interest until the next time Ben was in town more than two months later. And the month after that, Ryan saw his chance to lock it down when he flew to Chicago, walked into Ben's apartment, and declared, "By the way – we're boyfriends now."

But we both knew it wasn't just chance (even though our whole day revolves around Chance now). It is fate that each of us met our soulmate – serendipity that Ben found his person with the biggest heart and the brightest smile, and inevitable that Ryan’s heart found a home in the perfect man.