We're Getting Married!

Emma Beatrice Bolduc, born March 3rd, 1997, to Ronald and Cynthia Bolduc, grew up in the rural suburbia of Haverhill, MA. She has a younger sister Abigail, with whom she danced competitively from childhood all the way through college. As a young girl, her parents described Emma as possessing an endless supply of energy that required multiple playdates each day just to get her to bed on time. Her dance background made her a fierce competitor, so much so that certain boardgames are no longer played in the Bolduc household, but don’t let her fiery passion to win overshadow her true nature. Behind the need to dominate her competition is a smart, kindhearted, and introverted bookworm who puts her heart and soul into everything she does and the people she cares about. Quality over quantity comes to mind when describing the friendships Emma has made over the years as many are from her time at Nancy Chippendale’s dance studio, Smuggler’s Notch Resort, and of course a few more along the way from Central Catholic High School, and Boston University. Emma surrounds herself with a community of likeminded people and though she is on the quieter side, her heart speaks loud enough for us all. Steven Michael Salvatore Gandolfo, born June 7th, 1996, to Steve and Julia Gandolfo grew up 30 minutes from New York City in the suburban town of Lynbrook, NY. He has two younger sisters, JoAnna and Christina, with whom he loves dearly (when they aren’t stealing his hoodies, snacks, or conspiring against him). Steven’s parents and family all swear that he came out of the womb talking, as everyone knows that he is never at a loss for words. They will also tell you that he was pulled out by his ears, which is why he can get XM radio on a clear day. From an early age, Steven displayed an avid curiosity for the inner workings of life leading him to break many of his toys trying to figure out how they worked / were built. It was during this time that Julia and Steve made their biggest mistake and introduced young Steven to Legos. While Steven has not grown out of his Lego phase at 28 years old, he did progress from Legos to power tools in middle school much to the dismay of his father. From building go-karts, pallet forts, tire swings, or simply “digging holes to China” with his cousins, it is no wonder Steven would go on to become an engineer. Though he is often described as hotheaded, loud, and sometimes abrasive, Steven’s passion for his family and friends speaks loudest of all. He is the type that will drop anything and everything to help someone in need.

So now that you understand who Emma and Steven are as individuals you may not wonder how did they meet, but rather how the heck did an introverted bookworm from Boston fall in love with a loudmouthed, nerdy guy from New York? Well, the answer is quite simple; it started with a liquor run and a game of online Mancala. While at college, one of Steven’s childhood friend’s Tony, who was in the same fraternity as him at WPI, had messaged a group chat about making a run to the liquor store after classes and naturally, Steven obliged. Upon getting in Tony’s car, Steven was introduced to Tony’s girlfriend, Liv, and her friend Emma, both of whom were visiting WPI that weekend. While Emma was her usual quiet self, Steven saw the opportunity to chirp her about her Boston Red Sox shirt (the actual shirt is still debated to this day). The playful banter got Emma to open up a bit and quickly the two began conversing and showing their competitive natures. It is important to note that the first time Emma met Steven he had a front flip that could cut through paper, a chin strap, and, well, it’s a chin strap, there’s nothing worse to say there. Regardless both felt a spark the first time they met, so much so that Steven was too afraid to ask Emma for her number for months. It was not until after some liquid courage that he proudly walked up to Liv during another visit and kindly requested Emma’s snapchat so that he could talk to her. Liv made sure Steven’s intentions were pure before giving him Emma’s snapchat. Steven soon found out that Emma’s bedtime was 10:00 PM and that was not to be trifled with. He did grow the courage and got her number shortly thereafter and they began playing online boardgames with one another between visits to campus. Emma conceded chess and billiards to Steven, but the pong and mancala matchups rivaled that of two gladiators fighting to the death. There was one point where Steven beat Emma in a game of mancala so bad she stopped talking to him for days. Confused about her not responding Steven reached out to Liv to see what he did wrong, found out that it was because she had lost to him. Nervous Steven texted Emma asking if this was the case to which a quick response “yes, and it will be the last time you win” from Emma was given.

Steven and Emma spent a full year getting to know each other, eventually becoming best friends (but not as best as Taylor Aulson) and soon it was time for Steven to graduate WPI. Upon accepting a job offer at Raytheon in Andover MA, Emma helped him apartment hunt, unbeknownst to Steven she was making sure the apartment was close by to her parent’s house in Haverhill. Steven moved up to MA from NY officially on June 15th, on June 16th he took Emma on what is their first date to Benson’s Ice Cream stand. Fun fact it is speculated that our other friend Olivia Galarneau, who we met a few years later had worked at Benson’s during this time and served Emma and Steven their first ice-cream together. A few weeks later, both Steven and Emma found themselves back in NYC. Steve was helping his mom pack up for her move to Florida, while Emma was visiting one of her best friends, Elizabeth, in the city. The two decided to take advantage of their shared time in the city, and planned dinner at Havana Central for their first major date together, but through the entire date Steven failed to ask Emma to officially be his girlfriend. While driving back to MA, just as he was pulling up to her house, he turned down the block before parked and in Emma’s confusion he said WILL YOU BE MY GIRLFRIEND, or something like that. Emma of course said what took you so long. During their first year of dating Steven drove into Boston every single weekend as this was Emma’s senior year at Boston University. Due to Boston prices, he often brought food with him to cook, premade sandwiches, and even a whole beta fish setup & fish for Emma during one of his rides on the Boston T. It was in that tiny slumlord apartment that their love grew from game nights, wine nights, movie / tv marathons, excessive trips to Border café for cajan shrimp, Ned Devines / Lansdowne bar crawls and so much more. They cooked together, they laughed together, they cried together, and they were hungover together and soon after Emma’s graduation they welcomed an addition to their family, Steven’s dog, Nova. During their second year dating Emma began her career at Oracle and lived at home often visiting Steven and Nova who had moved into his second apartment with his college roommate, Noah. It was at this apartment complex that they met some more lifelong friends in Laura, Fabricio, and their dog Nyla. It was also here that they lived out the Covid-19 pandemic. Soon it was time for the discussion of taking the next step in their relationship and getting a place of their own. After a ten minute PowerPoint presentation to Emma’s parents, Ron and Cindy, they sort of had a blessing to move forward and get their first apartment together in Salem, NH. It was here that Steven and Emma’s relationship continued to grow as they learned to live full-time with one another. They crafted the infamous beer rainbow from all the breweries they took Nova too, created a mega couch, celebrated multiple Christmases, threw some grapes, and built their first home together at this apartment. It was here that Steven brought home a 75” TV to which Emma countered with their second dog, Haven. It was here that they made some more lifelong friendships, grew existing ones, and more importantly grew closer together as they continued their journey in life. After a few years at the Corsa apartment Steven and Emma decided to take the next step in their relationship and began house hunting. After searching for 9 months, they found their home in Londonderry, NH and spent much of the past year renovating. Emma was the visionary and Steven was the hands as they renovated the entire home. They could not have done so without the love and support of their family and friends who helped them along the way. Not soon after moving into their home together, Emma began dropping hints about a ring and little did she know Steven had already been scheming up the proposal.

Basically, everyone knew except for Emma, the only issue was it was March and Steven had to wait until December in order to give Emma her “winter wonderland proposal”. Now if you have met or have known Emma, she is not exactly a patient person which did not make things easy, especially since Steven is horrible at keeping surprises. Fortunately, Steven was able to keep the ring design a secret, and Emma even happened to be out of town when the custom ring was delivered. Unfortunately, the delivery was timed perfectly with the toilets breaking and needing to be fixed. Steven had originally planned to go out golfing with Emma’s dad during which he would ask Ron for his blessing, but was stuck trying to repair the bathrooms. However, Steven was determined to get their blessing regardless and showed up covered in bathroom gunk and made his sales pitch for Emma’s hand in marriage. Ron, after some arm twisting, gave his blessing and the two hugged a few days later for obvious reasons. Now came the trick of hiding the ring from Emma for three months. After months of planning, waiting, and dodging Emma’s suspicions the day finally came to make the trip down to NY for the proposal. With the help of Steven’s father, a 27 year veteran of the New York Police Department, he was able to reserve private time on the famous Rockefeller Center Ice Rink. He also had help from two of his childhood friends Lauren and Greg to coordinate the family, friends, and most importantly the photographer while Steven was distracting Emma. While remaining hidden Steven took Emma to get their skates and soon began their skate session out on the ice. They would like to say it was a pleasant experience, but the reality was people were dropping like flies, kids were weaving in and out of adults, adults couldn’t keep up with the children, and the influencers were too busy recording themselves to prevent themselves crashing into other people. Before their session was up Steven quietly pulled Emma aside and waited for his queue for the big moment. Emma naturally was questioning why they were not being removed from the ice when everyone else was and more so once their song began to play over the speakers. On perhaps the biggest stage either of them had been on surrounded by thousands of strangers with their family and friends hidden, Steven made two "laps" around the rink with Emma while “Light My Love” by Greta Van Fleet played. Neither Steven or Emma remembers exactly what was said but it was obvious once Steven brought Emma to the center of the rink and dropped down on one knee. It should be noted that neither Steven nor Emma should pursue a career in ice skating, but the proposal went successfully. After Steven put the ring on Emma’s finger, he spun her around to surprise her with the friends and family that had now emerged from their hiding spots. The crowd was cheering, emotions were high, and everyone could see in that moment how much Emma meant to Steven and he to her. That is their story for now, as the rest is still unwritten.