Andrew's first note to me was to not just say hello, but to poke fun at how I wanted to see all 52 states. I didn’t see his comment for months since I wasn’t active on the website. When I did get on I read his comment, corrected my profile page and did not reply to him. A month went by and because I was so beautiful and charming he would not be rebuffed, so he messaged me again. Now to tell me that he noticed my profile read that I now only wanted to see 50 of the states, but had yet to reply to him. Oops! I waited about another month and finally replied to him. We bantered back and forth with witty conversation for about a month. The conversation was small in volume but great in content as I am not quick to reply to any conversation through digital media. So a conversation that would take 2 minutes in person took over a month. To some of you this comes as no surprise. Lol! Through his patience our relationship started to bloom. We spoke over the phone for about a week before we met at Foolish Things coffee shop in downtown Tulsa for the first time on Sunday, October 7th, 2018. We had our first date on Friday, October 12th. He sent me a list of different date options to choose from. We met at Kilkenny’s Irish pub and then went to play virtual reality. It was so much fun!

The ring was bought, the plan made. I used my stealthy ways to plan a seemingly innocuous BBQ with friends and family. The plan appeared too grand, as it was to be at our new lake lot overlooking the water with a large group. Trisha was quite concerned about the lack of "facilities" at the lot. I eventually scaled it down to a smaller group that we knew would be OK squatting in the woods. Trisha was very confused why I was putting so much work into this BBQ (stealthy I said). I told her there is NO way I would propose for at least a year so....being stealthy, I planned it a couple weeks before our year anniversary. The Day of the proposal Zander (my son), Ted (my dad) and I took a triple generation work trip to set up a gazebo, fire pit, tiki torches and the BBQ for the evening. The evening went as planned. The kids fished, we played some catch, we ate some great food and enjoyed each others company. Just before sunset I decided I was ready. I had meticulously planned out my proposal with all the eloquence of a Professor of Poetry giving his doctorate dissertation and the grace of a herd of unicorns running along a beach at sunset. I embarked on my well thought out masterpiece that would WOW and amaze Trisha and convince her to say yes to a wholly unworthy suitor. Then I opened my mouth and something else happened. I just told her I loved her and that I wanted to be with her. I totally BOTCHED IT BAD!!! But she, being full of grace said yes anyway and claims to this day that what I said was perfect and that she loved it. I put my ring on her finger and my heart in her hands and from that day on I know that both will be loved and cherished from now on. And there was much rejoicing.......yaaaay....