(Warning, do not read this story if you are still hung up on “the one that got away”) Zac always knew. His mom will vouch—he came home after his first night at St. Mary’s youth group and told her: “I met the girl that I’m going to marry.” He was crazy enough to go up to the pretty girl he had seen lectoring during Mass, and she was crazy enough to be nice to him. Shortly after, Amanda agreed to be Zac’s date at the Rutherford B. Hayes High School Winter Formal, 2008. Zac would try several times to make Amanda his girlfriend (three, but who’s counting). He got closest in the summer of 2009, when they left the country for the first time on a European pilgrimage with their youth group. At their last stop in Rome, one night at the Trevi Fountain, Zac bought her a single red rose, which Amanda kept in a keepsake under her bed. Amanda broke Zac’s heart and left for Ohio University. Zac set off for Loyola University Chicago. After 9 months in Buenos Aires on a post-college Fulbright scholarship, Amanda decided to move to New York City, where Zac was already living. In case you were wondering, yes, Zac was still hung up on Amanda at this point. In order to see her as much as possible, Zac introduced her to all his friends so that they’d be in the same group. And later, when Amanda expressed hesitation toward dating because they shared so many of the same friends, Zac was quick and confident with his reply: “We’ll just never break up.” Zac went all in with that strategy when he and Amanda flew to Rome last summer. After a long Roman meal and an even longer Roman passeggiata, Zac brought them by the Trevi Fountain. He bought her a rose, like he had 9 years earlier, and got down on one knee. She said yes.