We met how all nerds meet… playing an online phone game! Kimberly was recruiting for her group and Chris responded to the ad. After being rigorously vetted and approved to join the group by Kimberly, a couple people thinking he was female, and a few months of relentless pursuing, the rest is history. Thanks Marvel Strike Force ;)

So Chris was living in Dallas and I here in Austin. This guy knew it was easier for him to move than Ronan and I, so he packed up his stuff, put in a notice at his work ( 15 years there!) and moved to Austin. We had grand plans of dating for a bit then moving in with one another….Covid had other plans. Less than a week after moving down here everything shut down for the pandemic. We knew we had insane decisions to make, so little was known about the virus then, no one was leaving the house. I couldn’t leave to see him often and put family at risk. We knew it would make or break our relationship. This amazing guy took on me, a kiddo, my mom, my dad, and my nana for the chance of our relationship working in the middle of the most stressful times we have ever been alive. He deserves a medal for not hightailing back to Dallas as fast as he could have, but we now know if we made it through the past two years, everything else is easy.

Kimberly woke up not feeling the greatest, things are often hit and miss since getting Covid last year. We had discussed about going to Kerbey Lane to grab breakfast as it is one of the few places with gluten free options for Kimberly. We debated on going since she wasn’t feeling great but decided to go ahead and go. I could tell Chris was a little nervous but chalked it up to him being concerned about me and just being out at a restaurant as we hadn’t made a whole lot of trips out to eat since I got sick. We sat a table very near to where sat on our first date/first time we met in person. We kept reminiscing about and it was a good breakfast. We decided we would pick Ronan up a burger on the way home. When we went to leave Chris was like’ “ Why don’t we walk down this way a bit?” I hope I didn’t look at him like he was crazy but I did feel that way. It was an absolutely gorgeous day but I still wasn’t feeling fantastic here. I said “okay” thinking maybe he had ate too much and just needed to walk some off. We walked to the end of the restaurant covered walkway and there is a bench under a tree. We sit on the bench and he begins to tell me how lucky he feels to have found me, how much he loves me, and then he somehow manages to slide on to one knee and have the ring out of his pocket all in one go. I’m still unsure how this happened. He asks me to be his wife, his partner, to walk through life with him. I have tears in my eyes and say “yes!” Hugs and kisses abound along with helping him up off his knees. Surprisingly a lovely lady recorded it through the window of Kerbey Lane and sent it to us. No sound but it’s a wonderful momento from a very kind stranger. Chris knows I’m not big on being the center of attention and it was perfect.