As many stories do, this one starts with a cute guy.

But this story isn’t actually about the cute guy. It’s about the sport he is passionate about and introduced me to.

The sport that did what little else could — it calmed the overwhelming anxiety I started experiencing about six months into the pandemic. Anxiety that I have never experienced before in my life and that has kept me isolated and — as I like to joke — almost feral.

Golf soothed that anxiety…and my soul.