It all started at the Wild Colonial, a small bar in Providence, RI. Catelyn was out with her friend, Savannah, when she spotted a tall, handsome, rugged man (it was Dan). Catelyn thought he was cute but continued on with her evening. At Wild Colonial there is a single and highly-coveted pool table where Catelyn and Savannah were poorly trying to compete with each other. Then, Dan’s friend, Lee, approached them and asked if they could play in teams. Lee was with Savannah and Catelyn was paired up with Dan. Conversation ensued between us, we’re not sure who even ended up winning the game of pool (we’ll say it’s us, since we’re the ones writing this) and by the end of the evening we exchanged numbers. Now for some people, there may be playful banter between texts before setting up a first date, but for us, we spent the next 8 days seeing each other. We played it super cool.

Catelyn had wanted me to get her parents blessing before I asked her to marry me, so obviously I bought the ring before talking to them. Catelyn and I flew down for Christmas in 2019, me with ring in tow. I had planned on asking her Christmas morning, the problem was getting Catelyn separated from Frank and Linda before the 25th. Of course the opportunity didn't present itself until Christmas eve. While Catelyn was in the shower I corralled her parents in their kitchen and pre-popped the question: "I would like permission to marry your daughter." The answer: "We'll tell you what we told Aaron (their son-in-law), what took you so long?" Christmas morning: I'm pretty sure Catelyn is going to say yes but I'm still nervous (because she's great, I love her and I really want her to say yes!) As the last presents are opened I tell Catelyn she has one more present hidden in the tree, as she looks I get down on one knee behind her. She turns around and I ask... SHE SAYS YES!!! The look on her face I'll never forget, the memory of it still makes my heart melt. In saying yes she makes me happier than I've ever been.