How a Friendship's Foundation Led to a Lifetime of Love and Family

In 2015, when I was 21, I met Moe at an obstacle course race in south-western Sydney. He had a natural charisma, and while I was drawn to him, I didn't think about him again for almost a year.

I reconnected with him on a dating app. I swiped right, and he suggested we go rock climbing. I backed out at the last minute, but a few months later, we ended up at the same gym. We quickly became close friends, regularly training and running trails together.

At the time, I was in university, living at home, and in a relationship. I enjoyed spending time with Moe, but I never considered a romantic connection. We easily fell into a close friendship, often having dinner together.

As our friendship deepened, I confided in Moe about the issues in my relationship. At an Indian restaurant one autumn night, I shared my unhappiness. I felt ashamed, but Moe was understanding. He helped me see a way forward, and his ability to help me untangle my feelings is something I still value.

My relationship ended shortly after. Despite my insistence that Moe and I were just friends, we trained and ate together daily and even got puppies from the same litter. Our friends and family suspected more, but I was in denial.

In early October 2017, after training, Moe asked me to dinner, but his tone was different. The intensity in his voice made me nervous, and I declined. However, I knew something had shifted. The next night, we went to a Vietnamese restaurant. I was nervous, and the scene felt like a romance novel. Outside, he pulled me close, and I knew I was about to experience a life-changing kiss. It was incredible.

In a way, nothing had changed, but everything had. I realized that everything we were was already there; I had just been blind to its potential.

By Halloween, I knew I would marry him. Our son was born a year later. During my struggles with pre- and postnatal depression, Moe was my calming support. We were married in 2020 in an intimate ceremony at Uluru. Two years later, we moved to Young, Australia, with our son and our dogs.

Even now, I still blush when I think about our first kiss.