I met Kaitlyn sophomore year at our student council lock-in. Before that I had no idea who she was, and we had gone to school together since we were kids. I knew after spending the night hanging out that I wanted to date her. We ended up having English class together that year, and I came up with the perfect plan to talk to her everyday. Step 1: make sure we were partners whenever there was group work. Step 2: text her every night to ask what the homework was. Now jump to Valentine’s Day that same year. Our school did flower day so we could send carnations to our crush. I of course broke out the dollar bills to buy Kait a handful of flowers. Unfortunately, she was sick the day the flowers were supposed to be delivered. But this allowed me to make the grandest gesture yet. I gathered up her flowers, took the bus home and then walked 2 miles to hand deliver the flowers. When I knocked she came to the door, she looked like a train wreck. I later learned that when she shut the door, she ran to the bathroom to puke. Thankfully I didn’t know that day because it would have severely hurt my confidence. I kept on it like an obsession, which I was but in a good way. Anyways by June I had built up the courage to ask her to be my girlfriend. I met her at the end of the school day and threw a paper airplane at her. When she caught it I told her to open it up and on the inside I had wrote “date me?” A real smooth guy move, I know. All the hard work was about to pay off I thought, but then she hit me with “not right now”. Crushed. I decided to keep trying. When July came around, my brother Derick was having his graduation party and I invited Kait to come. She hung out at the party for a bit until her dad picked her up. I walked her to the car and she said “oh by the way, yes” then left. I had no idea what she meant. I had to text her to ask and that’s when we started dating. I celebrated that night by stealing my Aunt’s beers. During our senior year I decided to join the Army. The whole time I was away I knew I had a girlfriend back home that was loving and missing me, and I couldn’t wait to get home next to be with her. For 5 years we cherished the weekends we could spend together and the distance did little to stress our relationship, it made it stronger. I’ve always felt my best when I’m with her. In 2019 I got out of the Army to come home and build a life with Kait. When I moved home we immediately started looking for an apartment in Boston. We adopted our little boy Dwight and moved to Fenway. Our first two years in the city were slightly disrupted by Covid, but living together in that 770 square foot apartment we had so much fun. Whether it was wine nights, 1v1 monopoly, Red Sox games or dancing in the kitchen, we made the most out of those two years. Then we moved to Cambridge. We might have only been there a year but again we made so many memories. Most of my favorites involved Uber eats sushi and milk bar cake. This July I decided 10 years was finally enough. I had been waiting so long to buy the ring she deserved. I devised a plan to take her out to celebrate our anniversary. Our first stop I told her was Castle Island. I set up a little picnic spot and when we got there while she was looking at everything, I was busy trying to get the ring box out of my underwear. After a short struggle I finally got the ring out and on one knee before she turned around. Let me tell you all I was so thankful she didn’t say “not right now” this time. When she finally shut her mouth, she said yes, which was really good because we had already booked the venue. When I think about the highlights, and maybe more importantly the lowlights of my life I can say for certain Kait has always stood by me. For her love I am so thankful, and I can’t wait to continue building a life with her.

Flashback to fall 2011 when Tyler and I became friends. Having been acquainted for some time, we really became friends when we both became deeply rooted in student council… And from then on I think Tyler was mildly obsessed lol. He persistently texted me every night to ask what the English homework was (despite already having completed it) and a young, naive Kaitlyn was entirely oblivious to his crush on her. He even walked over a mile in the rain to my house when I was sick with the stomach bug to deliver me flowers on Valentine’s Day, and still, I was none the wiser. I think I actually told him that I loved him like a best friend and that he was like a brother to me… As you can imagine that did not go over well! After six months of giving him the run around, I acquiesced (just kidding I was very much infatuated at this point lol) and agreed to date him at Derick’s high school graduation party - shoutout to D. The next years of high school we did everything together. We went on our first vacation together and toured around Italy (it’s not underage drinking if you’re in Europe!) and in Paris, Tyler put a lock with our initials together in the lock bridge over the Seine. Seventeen year old me secretly hoped one day we would go back there one day and he would propose. We grew together and individually and got to experience all of our teenage milestones together. As I went off to college in Boston Tyler moved down to Georgia to join the military and I think I cried my weight in tears. It seemed impossible to be separated from the boy who for years only lived just down the street from me, and the next five years we spent long distance. The first letter I sent to Tyler while he was in basic training included, “I hope this doesn’t creep you out but I think I would like to spend the rest of my life with you…” We spent many hours flying and driving back and forth between North Carolina and Boston every few months and would frequently FaceTime for so long that we would fall asleep and wake up to each other still on the other end of the phone. I graduated college while Tyler was in Iraq, and the day he came home after 9+ months apart was one of the best moments of my life. I could not possibly get enough time with him! Once his contract was up, I flew down to North Carolina to drive home one last time with him, and our relationship completely flourished once we were no longer long distance. Four years, four big moves, one dog, a new career and more college later and I’ve gotten so lucky to be more in love than ever with my best friend. I never could have chosen a more selfless, kind, brave, intelligent, loving soul to be my partner. I think we have experienced every possible emotion and scenario together, and even at the lowest of lows, I remain afloat because I have him. Ten years down, and we still have a lifetime to go. And I can’t wait.