Our journey began where we spent countless hours on the purple courts at TCU.
We were both student-athletes, united by the demanding schedule, competitive fire, and the constant travel that came with playing at the Division I level.
Initially, we were living two different lives – Margaret with her team, and Tomas with his. Our first interactions generally consisted of a casual ‘hey’ or hurried greetings while passing each other on the way to the courts or the locker room.
But the tennis center quickly became more than just a place to practice; it became the unexpected meeting ground where our lives started to intertwine. We gradually started spending more and more time together and began to realize that we had a lot more in common than just our love for tennis. We discovered an understanding of each other’s drive, commitment, discipline, resilience and faith. Our conversations shifted from tennis talk to sharing future goals and realizing that our values were aligned and complementary to one another.
However, our bond came with its own unique challenge. Tomas is from Prague, and navigating our relationship meant accepting that our “home" was separated by thousands of miles and many time zones. We faced tough moments and had to work hard to bridge the distance, but these hurdles only reinforced how serious our commitment was. We learned that a deep faith, communication, patience, and a shared future vision could overcome any physical separation.
We have grown and learned from each other in so many ways and know it will only continue as we now get to do life together. We got engaged on the purple courts where it all started. TCU brought us together and now we are so excited to continue our match for life!
