Bridget's Version:

Ben and I had been friendly acquaintances since my freshman year and Ben’s sophomore year of college. We met at the first house party I ever attended at LSU, where he was playing commentator for a lively game of beer pong. Which was my party game of choice having played basketball for several years in high school. The thing that stood out to me about Ben was that he made a point to remember my name, where I was from, and that I liked basketball. So whenever I would run into him on campus he would also greet me with a big smile and "Hello Bridget! You’re from Kansas and you like basketball".

Fast forward three years later to the first semester of my senior year of college where I am working two jobs, VP of my sorority, and going to school full time. Meaning your girl was busy and didn't have time to be adding anything additional to her plate. But life has a funny way of making things work out when you least expect them because that is when sweet Mr. Benjamin Gothard decided to slide into my Snapchat DM's. Meaning he sent me a photo of him looking off to the side, fist under chin, with a message that said "I think you're attractive and I respect you". I do have to say it was the first time I'd ever heard that as an opening pick-up line and I was intrigued.

A few months later (after successfully finding time on both of our busy schedules) we decided to go on a fro-yo (frozen yogurt) date. I kept calling it a catch up between two friends and was only planning on being there for 30 minutes tops. After all, I had a birthday party later that day that I needed to get ready for and so far in my dating career I had been unimpressed with most boys' ability to hold a conversation. When we sat down to eat our fro-yo Ben asked me his famous opening line “So what’s your story?”. I was a bit taken aback because up to that point I had never been asked such a thoughtful question on a date so I gave him the coy response of “it’s kind of a rough story are you sure you want to hear it?”. He then proceeded to lean in and say “well now I have to hear it”. So I told him my story, all of the stuff I had experienced in childhood, what I was doing with my life and the type of person I wanted to become, my values etc. and he just kept asking me thoughtful question after thoughtful question.

Next thing you know it’s 3.5 hours later my yogurt had completely melted (I took maybe one bite) and I was an hour late to the birthday dinner that I was supposed to attend. I will never forget when I walked into the dinner my sorority sisters asked me what took so long. I huffed, threw up my hands, and said “I think I just found the love of my life - but I literally have no time for this right now so I guess I have to clear my schedule” and I know it sounded crazy but I was pretty sure he was the one for me.

One could say I’m a bit of a romantic. I’ve thought a lot about love and what it means to be in love. I’ve come across multiple nuggets of wisdom when it comes to this particular subject and have always really held onto one piece of advice in particular which is: Don’t marry someone until you see them through multiple seasons and/or you see them when they lose their luggage.

Luckily Ben and I have been through it all together both seasons and lost luggage! Long distance (for 2.5 years), multiple road trips (Kansas, Dallas, Oklahoma, Yellowstone, Seattle, Boise, Colorado, Atlanta, North Carolina, Thibodaux, San Diego), first corporate jobs, various businesses, surgeries, multiple countries (Italy, France, Spain, Costa Rica), big life milestones joyful and sad (Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, graduations, weddings and funerals), 5 AM flights, living together, packing and unpacking uHauls, Mardi Gras’s, Saegner shows, Pelicans Games, hosting annual Halloween parties, Saints and LSU games, pickleball tournaments, concerts, heated Nertz games, tough conversations about religion/our values/finances/world views/life/kids, countless hours of laughter, dancing, big hugs, telling stories, rewatching Lord of the Rings and now (most recently) planning our wedding together.

To say I am the luckiest girl in the world to find my best friend, life partner, and the love of my life in Ben is a huge understatement. Ben is everything I wanted, prayed for, and hoped I would find in the person I get to share the rest of my life with and more. He inspires me to be the best version of myself, he understands me, and man does he know how to make me laugh!

So you know earlier (after our first date) how I said to my sorority sisters at that birthday dinner “I think I just found the love of my life?”

Well seven years later it turns out I was right! :)

Ben’s Version:

We first met at a party. I had just read the book How to Win Friends & Influence People, and decided to implement one of the principles “a person’s name is the sweetest sound in the whole world to them.” As I was expertly sports casting a fierce game of beer pong, I would make sure to say everyone’s names and try to remember a little something about them. Luckily for me, a cutie from Wichita, Kansas was also at that party, and our friendship began.

Fast forward a few years, during which time we had stayed friendly acquaintances, and the same Dorothy of Purple & Gold helped me avoid embarrassment when I accidentally sent a video of myself (expertly) air-banding a rock song to the public on Snapchat. She privately let me know, in equally fun and skilled air-banding style, of my mistake so that I might save face. The Midwestern beauty was back on my radar, this time as a friend who I knew I could trust to have my back.

Shortly thereafter, I kept thinking about her, and reached out with (possibly) the smoothest pickup line of all time, “I find you attractive and I respect you a lot.” Obviously she swooned at the mere sight of this direct message of mine, but after a few minutes to recover, she wrote back expressing her mutual interest, and we began planning our first date to get frozen yogurt (froyo). Giving herself an out, Bridget mentioned she had a birthday party to go to, and could only attend our outing for a maximum of 30 minutes. 3½ hours later I was driving her to the event, having smiles on our faces after exchanging our life stories.

Since that first date in Fall 2017, we’ve spent as much time together as humanly possible. But it wasn’t easy. I was only at LSU for the rest of that semester at which point I returned to New Orleans, and Bridget stayed in Baton Rouge for a time, then went to Oklahoma, so we never lived again in the same place until August 2020 when we moved in together to our home in Uptown, New Orleans, where we still live to this day.

My Wichita-ian Wonder Woman has been by my side through the passing of three of my grandparents back to back to back from 2018 to 2020, COVID, the sudden loss of my Dad in 2021, many different career ups and downs, world travels, and so much more. Soon to be former Ms. Lavigne is still a hoot, and we’ve had many wonderful experiences together, whether it be dancing, hiking, movie watching, exploring, food tasting, or just generally goofing around in the many ways we do. Like any couple, we’ve had challenges too. As two people who both like to be in charge, we have learned to coexist peacefully and lovingly. We have learned how to accept one another for the individuals that we are. Figuring these things out has been transformational not only for us, but for me as an individual. I am reminded how much I still have to learn every day. We have built a wonderful relationship based on trust, communication, respect, and adventure. And I am proud to be writing this in celebration of our upcoming wedding, so that we might start the next chapter of our lives together.

I hope all of you can one day find someone like Bridget to love and call your own. If you do, hold tight and never let go!