Now a days, finding your other half in high school is rare and something that only happened in the "olden days" or in RomCom movies. For us, we got lucky. We met in the hallway at Methuen High in 2009, the school that used to have no walls. I honestly don't remember the details on how we first met since it seems like forever ago, but Jake has been the love of my life ever since. We both went to different colleges after high school but still managed to keep our relationship strong even when we weren't in the same state. At first, I was in Hartford, CT studying radiography and Jake was in Lowell, MA studying biology with a concentration of bioinformatics. Then after two years, I transferred to MCPHS in Boston still studying radiography and Jake was in Lowell but looking to go to grad school to get his PhD in bioinformatics which evolved into data science, statistics, and deep learning. One day he casually told me he got into HARVARD, which he just graduated in 2021 with his PhD! If you know Jake the way I do, you find out things when he casually brings it up. For all we know, he works undercover for the FBI/CIA. Jake is truly one of a kind. To say I got lucky is an understatement. I am so thankful for his parents (my soon to be mom and dad), John and Renee, for raising the man of my dreams. He is the Jack to my Rose (although I would have moved over so we could both fit on the doorframe), the Noah to my Allie, and the Peter Kavinsky to my Lara Jean. I always envisioned having an incredible love story like my Nana and Pappy or my Mom and Dad and I can attest to the fact that I have. Jake is the person who always goes above and beyond trying to do whatever he can to make me happy or just put a smile on my face. Theres no one else I'd rather have be my Cranium partner, my whist/45's partner (even though he hates cards), and someone to just ride through life with. I always say to people, "you really need to find a Jake," and thank God I did and have the best one!

Date: 07.23.2019 Location: Walt Disney World; Park: Epcot Jake, as brilliant as he is, is not a person who can keep a big secret, but to his defense, surprises just aren't my thing. When I got a text saying " what is your ring size," close to our 10 year anniversary, I was like OH SNAP! We planned a trip to go to Disney, which was our first big trip together and I had a gut feeling it would happen there because we were going the exact week of our anniversary (July 21). I'm not one who likes the attention put on me so the one thing I asked was if it was happening, wherever that may be, not to do it in front of a bunch of people and I got a nod and a "don't worry, I would never do that." Well, we went to a soccer game on the 21st at Fenway Park in Boston, and I was like PLEASE don't be one of those guys who proposes on the big screen. The whole soccer game I was looking at him saying, "please don't," to which he kept laughing and laughing which made me feel on edge the whole game. The next day, we got on a plane, arrived at Disney and I said: "if you are proposing can you please at least tell me the park," and without hesitation he told me Epcot. Thinking back, I kind of chuckle because he actually told me which park, thanks boo!

As we arrived at Epcot the next day, we got to the park and Jake told me "don't worry, I'm not proposing until we get to Mexico so we can have Mexican food after," and I was thrilled, if you know me you know Mexican is my favorite food and it was also at the end of the park (which gave me time to prepare... or so I thought). I was honestly in "la la land" and not really paying attention because if I was, I would've known he was definitely lying LOL. We arrived at Canada, then came the United Kingdom, and all of a sudden I can see in Jakes eyes he's looking for someone or something as we approach France. I said, "hey, what are you doing, why are you walking so slow?" He's looking at a photographer whose taking people's pictures, doesn't even answer me, and then says "forget it!" A minute later, again not even acknowledging my question, he frantically looks around and finds this nice guy and says extremely loudly, "hey man, can you take a picture of me proposing to my girlfriend, my mom will be pissed if I don't get pictures of the moment." And the rest is history: of course I said yes! Thinking back, I probably shouldn't have gone on big rides with my beautiful ring. I was clutching every handle on all the rides to make sure the ring didn't fly off my finger. When we got home days later, my sisters arranged a wonderful surprise family only engagement party and weren't very sneaky or secretive about it. All in all, Jake gets an A+ for the proposal :)

Kristie and Jake met in the hallowed halls of Methuen High School during their freshman year. Since they didn’t have many classes together, they frequently met outside one of her classrooms until the bell rang, even though it seemed like Jake’s class was always on the opposite side of school. To avoid detentions this usually meant he’d go down to gym and pretend he was absent (perks of the gym teacher being your grandmas neighbor), a problem that was exacerbated over the years (sorry Mr. Penner). After Mr. Jennings gave Jake a D in English, he got a 5 on the AP test and got to test out of English at UMass Lowell where he majored in biology with a concentration in bioinformatics. Ironically, he did not pass the AP biology test. Kristie went back to her Connecticut roots and attended the University of Hartford for radiography. While Jake never experienced it first hand, rumor has it that Kristie was only allowed two choices of entertainment during the drives back and forth from Hartford; 98.5 The Sports Hub or U2. Kristie appears to have developed some sort of PTSD from this, as Jake is never allowed to listen to Felger and Mazz while she is in the car. Following her junior year at Hartford, Kristie transferred to MCPHS in Boston, where she and Jake would eventually become neighbors when he moved there for his PhD. Being able to spend the past 11+ years with Kristie has been a blessing. Not only have I gained laughs and memories that I will cherish forever, but I’ve also gained a wonderful family. Just about the only thing I’ve lost over the past 11 years has been half my clothes, which have suspiciously ended up in Kristie’s closet. I can’t wait to marry my best friend, and I look forward to celebrating forever surrounded by those that mean so much to us and our families.

It was no surprise to Kristie that I was going to propose to her the week we went to Florida, it was just a matter of when. After years of saying I’d propose on the Jumbotron in Fenway like any rationale Massachusetts resident would, I finally had my opportunity. It just so happened that my birthday gift that year was tickets to Liverpool vs Sevilla on July 21st, which was coincidentally our dating anniversary. However, Kristie had emphasized that she would say no without hesitation if I ever proposed at Fenway ending this idea long ago. Still, she reminded me of this multiple times on our way to the match. The very next morning we made our way down to Orlando for a weeklong trip to Disney World and Universal Studios. Since Kristie hates surprises, she kept asking when I would be proposing so that she could prepare for the moment. After asking for about the 1000th time, I finally caved and told her I would be proposing somewhere in Mexico when we went to Epcot, and we could celebrate by eating there (Mexican is our favorite cuisine). This of course, was only half the truth. As we entered the part of Epcot where you visit each of the countries, we passed by a sign listing out the locations of the country. If she was going to find out I wouldn’t be proposing in Mexico right now would be the time, because Mexico is the last country we’d visit based on the direction we were going. Regardless, she thought that I may be lying (I was), and started to freak out anytime I lagged behind her. As we were sitting on a bench in Canada waiting to see the Martin Short film, I pretended to fumble around in my pocket and causing her to freak out. Little did she know the ring was in my bag at the time.

Next up was the UK, followed by France where I was planning to propose. The UK is just a shop, so I had to act fast to move the ring from my bag to my pocket. After a successful transfer, it was obvious there was a square shaped object in my pocket, so I quickly stuffed my water bottle in the same pocket to avoid suspicion. The suspicion came anyway, as I was obviously trying to walk behind her at this point. There was only 2 things in my head at this point: 1) try not to make it obvious that I was proposing and 2) my mom wants pictures of the proposal. Not so easy when trying to keep it a surprise. That’s why I did what anyone in my situation would do. With Kristie standing next to me I told some random guy and his wife that I was going to propose to my girlfriend and asked if they could take a pictures of the proposal. In the background I heard Kristie say “what…”. My cover was blown. In front of the fountain in France (Orlando, FL) I got down on one knee and asked the girl of my dreams to marry me. A few hours later we eventually got to Mexico.