Like any good love story, theirs began in 9th grade math class. Katie and Joseph were attending Central Academy in downtown Des Moines. One winter morning in 2008, both were running late to their math test. They were surprised to hear each other give the same excuse to their teacher- that they lived out of district in West Des Moines and hit traffic on the way in…they got to chatting and learned that they lived 0.7 miles apart from one another. This was the start of a friendship that began with joking around in class and sharing notes, but by the end of the year they were spending hours on the phone at night and meeting each other for neighborhood bike rides.
Their sophomore year, Katie asked Joseph to her high school homecoming dance and they realized their friendship had become something more. They went on their first date — at the mall, to see a movie (Katie’s mom dropped her off, they both wore Hollister, and they got Cold Stone afterwards).
Over the next 3 years, they became one another’s true best friend. She went to his debate tournaments; he to her swim meets. They drove home from school together. They grew close to each others’ families. They shared the same friends. They spent weekends at his lake house. They got SCUBA certified together. They studied for AP tests together. They read each others’ college application essays. They shared in one another’s successes, disappointments, and Joseph’s multiple orthopedic injuries. And in the fall of 2012, they started college >1000 miles apart, and decided they were too young to know who they were supposed to be with forever; that they should go their separate ways but remain friends.
The next 10 years were full of major life changes — study abroad, college graduation, Katie’s 5 years of medical school, Joseph’s first company, Joseph’s second company, boards studying, COVID, starting residency, cross-country moves — yet somehow, their friendship was always a constant. They might go months without speaking, but whenever they did, it was as if no time had passed, and they never lost their respect or admiration for each other. They both quietly wondered about the other but the timing was just never quite right.
In the spring of 2022, Joseph accidentally dialed Katie’s mom, thinking he was calling a coworker. She had been thinking about him and took it as a sign. She asked him what he was doing during her upcoming week of vacation. He invited her to escape the frigid Boston winter at his family home in Florida. Within a couple of days, it was clear to both of them that this was it.
3+ years of navigating a transcontinental relationship while Katie completes a surgical residency in Boston and Joseph runs a company based in SF has been anything but simple, but choosing each other has always been easy. We couldn’t have done it without the support and love from all of you — our family and friends — and we couldn’t be more honored to spend this weekend with you. Let’s do this!!
- K & J