They literally found love in a hopeless place.
These are newlyweds Kate Queram and Brandon Wagoner — or, as they were once known in the ESPN comments section, bleu_girl_04 and AAWolv.
Long before their Oct. 24, wedding, they first "met" on January 30, 2012, while joking about being some of the only Michigan fans on ESPN. Queram signed up after moving to Wilmington, North Carolina, and missing the rabid college football fans she'd left behind.
Commenting soon became part of her regular routine, as did "talking" to Wagoner. "I liked him right away," she told BuzzFeed Life, noting that many commenters thought she was a man. "He was funny and flirty and he could spell, and he was, of course, a Michigan fan. He made me laugh, and every time I logged on, I hoped he would be there."
She was purportedly one of the only women commenting, Wagoner said. "I was immediately struck by how hilarious and fun she is," he said. "Beyond that, I didn’t think that anything serious would occur, because, well, we were commenting on an ESPN blog." Both of them had graduated from Michigan, but Queram had in 2004 and Wagoner had in 2011, so they never crossed paths.
Their interactions became frequent and flirty, so much so that fellow commenters started calling them a "blog couple," a title they didn't fight. At one point, Wagoner jokingly "proposed" by uploading a picture of a Michigan 1997 Championship ring to the comments. At the time, they still didn't know each other's names.
Courtesy of Kate Queram
A year later, the Manti Te'o scandal broke, and hiding behind an online alias raised serious concerns.
"When the Te'o thing happened, all the guys started up the 'but are you a guy, really?' comments again, and this time even Brandon said something along the lines of, 'But really, am I being catfished?'" Queram said. Tired of the questions, which had been happening since she started commenting, she sent Wagoner a private message with her Twitter handle to prove her identity. From there, they exchanged email addresses, and started talking — a lot.
Two months later, in March 2013, Wagoner drove from Ann Arbor to Wilmington (a 12-hour trip) to meet Queram for the first time. Even though he was "so nervous that I could barely stand," they hit it off instantly.
Their relationship got serious pretty quickly from there. Queram says her friends and family were supportive of her unconventional love story from the start, but Wagoner said some of his loved ones were a bit more skeptical. "I never lied [about how we met], but I didn’t go out of my way to tell everyone at first," he said.
Kate Queram
They got married in Queram's hometown of Middleton, Wisconsin, but their wedding was pure Michigan.
They played the college fight song, and ESPN was there to film the whole thing. Both Queram and Wagoner incorporated the story of how they met into their vows. Queram said, "Since the very first time we ever talked on that ridiculous football blog, you have been the best part of my day. I will spend the rest of my life trying to be the best part of yours."
Their officiant also told the story of how they met (without mentioning Manti Te'o), and both the best man and Queram's father mentioned it in their toasts. "I think most of the people at our wedding knew the story, at least in some way, so I don't think any of it was a shock," Queram said.
Courtesy of Kate Queram
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét