We met in a state that neither of us lived in, at a time when we both lived across the country from each other! Liz was volunteering as an equipment manager for the Houston wheelchair rugby team, and Chuck was finishing his Master's in public policy in Minneapolis when we both attended a wheelchair rugby tournament, where a mutual friend introduced us, in Phoenix, Arizona! Since the day we met, not one day has gone by that we didn't talk to each other, and here we are getting married!

On this date, we officially became boyfriend/girlfriend after a lovely trip together to DC. Over the course of the next few years, we would spend a lot of hours flying all over the place to see each other (Minnesota, Texas, Colorado, Pennsylvania, etc.) and spending our summers together in various cities. The onset of the pandemic in March of 2020 actually gave us our first long-term opportunity to live together, hidden away on the ranch in Texas. During that time, we watched the world change drastically, and we experienced some major changes of our own--to name a few, Chuck had a health crisis with his leg, Liz wrote her thesis, and we adopted a puppy! In June of 2021, Chuck, Liz, and their little fluff nugget, Winnie, moved to Denver.

(A bit of backstory) Chuck told Liz about 6 months into dating that he wanted to marry her someday, whenever she was ready. Liz felt the same way, but also knew that she was too young to make such a commitment; therefore, she promised to let him know when she was ready. On August 26th of 2022, she let him know that she was (right before a rugby match!). In Denver, Chuck celebrated his victory as a silver medalist at the Tokyo Paralympics and Liz had an internship at a social service nonprofit, and the family dog, Ellie May, came to live with us. One day, Chuck came home from Walgreens and surprised Liz with a romantic proposal in our apartment, which we celebrated with pizza and a night on the couch watching Friends. We now live in Ann Arbor, MI with our two doggies! Chuck works as a community liaison/program developer for the University of Michigan's new adaptive sports program, and Liz started working on her Master's of Social Work this August at the same school.

You knew this part :) we can't wait to celebrate with you! Next stop: Mr. and Mrs. Aoki ❤️