Throughout Alec’s second stint at the University of Connecticut, he was a student worker with the Library IT Services helpdesk. During the last semester of senior year, another senior joined the team. Her name? Lauren. She come on as the dedicated Apple and Mac resource while no one really knew what Alec did. He was generally just grumpy and built random things or helped faculty restart their computers and classrooms. Graduation comes and goes, and they end up as roommates for that first year after college. You might think, "oh! This is it! This is where it starts!" But, no, not quite. Rest assured; though, it was a complicated time. After that first year, Alec goes and deploys with the Army and Lauren moves to West Hartford and continues her career.

However, you wouldn't be reading this if it ended there. Cinco de Mayo, 2018. Alec invites Lauren out for some margs and tacos to celebrate the occasion! Funnily enough, no tacos were had as all those places were unsurprisingly packed. This day; however, just happened to be a Saturday and Saturday is karaoke night. No one is quite sure if it was Alec’s rousing rendition of “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan, or the hyped up vibe of Butterfly on a karaoke night, but something changed that night. You could say, “it started out with a kiss.”

For months an idea was hatched and clandestine research conducted. Alec secretly customized and ordered a ring, but had no idea on how or when to propose. For a couple months, Alec brought this ring everywhere. Work? Yes. Trip to Washington DC? Yep. Army Reserve battle assembly weekends? You betcha. Finally, an opportunity presented itself. The Celtics had a home game on 2-4-24. Perfect. Alec and Lauren get tickets to the game and decide to make an overnight trip out of it. Utilizing more secrecy, Alec hired a photographer and, with their recommendation, settled on proposing at Lopresti Park in East Boston. The challenge. How does Alec get Lauren over to East Boston without it being suspicious? If you know Lauren, you know she will quickly sniff out a set up. However, the greatest distractor? Snacks. Alec picks out a restaurant and makes (then cancels) a reservation. To hype up Lauren to go in the wrong direction, Alec gets her to research the menu to which she announces that she is looking forward to lobster rolls. Unbeknownst to her, they were not to be. If you’ve never seen Lopresti Park, it’s a beautiful spot that overlooks the Boston Inner Harbor with the Boston city skyline in the background. Also there, is a wooden pier that juts out into the water. Upon arrival Alec quickly glances at the pier and thankfully, only a couple people are there, but it wasn’t empty. He needed a distraction, some misdirection. He finds a map and ambles over to it with Lauren saying something to the effect of, “we never come over this way, what else is around here?” The people on the pier leave and this starts to become real. Alec guides Lauren over to the pier and they stand at the end chatting about the view and how awesome this place would be in the summer when it wasn’t freezing cold. They point out buildings they can recognize and laugh at some memories. At this point our photographer must have gotten the feeling that it’s happening soon and began traversing the pier walkway. Alec almost blows the surprise when he asks Lauren to take a selfie when the photographer was maybe 20 feet away. Lauren though, was oblivious. Phew. Disaster averted. Full of confidence and anxious to finally release the ring from his possession. Alec says something cheesy and drops to one knee with only one thought in mind, “DON’T DROP THE DAMN RING INTO THE WATER.” Lauren, in complete shock, initially didn’t know what to do but did manage to say “yes!” After some pictures, Lauren and Alec had to quickly shuttle off to the Celtics game, leaving lobster rolls behind for another day. Success.