By Kelsie D

I have C-ACC and finding love hasn’t been easy. When I find a person who I think is a good fit for me, I worry about getting a negative response when I express my feelings for them. But things changed when I met Brian at the most recent DCC conference in Frisco, TX. Brian’s brother, Christopher, has ACC. During free time, Brian and his dad were at the Roughriders baseball game and we started a friendly conversation about the game and other things. At one point, I mentioned my birthday and that’s when Brian got excited and said, “That’s mine!” We were not only born on the same exact day, but we also learned that we had a few other things in common. We both like York peppermint patties and chocolate chip cookie dough blizzards from Dairy Queen. He knows American Sign Language and I am taking ASL courses in college. The funny thing is that Brian and I have been in each other’s circles since the 2005 conference. We just didn’t actually meet until Frisco.

After the conference, our families kept in touch. We live in South Carolina and Brian and his family live in Maryland, so seeing each other often is less doable than if we lived in the same area. He and I talk almost every night over the phone and we Zoom on Wednesday evenings. Through our chats, we’ve found that we and our families have even more things in common.

My parents and I spent this past New Year’s holiday in New Jersey, clearing out my grandparents’ house. My dad called me down to the basement to help him. When I got downstairs, he walked me down the driveway and I saw a car I thought I should recognize. Brian’s dad got out of the driver’s side and then I saw Brian get out of the passenger side. That’s when the surprise hit and I said “OMG!” and gave him a hug. (My parents knew a week ahead and were in on the surprise!) That afternoon, we went to the American Dream Mall for some fun. As we walked, it was challenging to keep up with Brian who is taller than me. At one point, he reached down and grabbed my hand and that’s when I knew our relationship was growing. One of the activities we did that afternoon was to ride the Dream Wheel ferris wheel. While we were up at the top, we took pictures of the skyline and decided we wanted to make ourselves official. Brian and I are really happy and our families are working on ideas for how we can visit more often.