We first met at a Carnegie Hall concert a mutual friend was in, and grew close as Eric took voice lessons with Bern in the middle of the pandemic. Bern would ask Eric to make funny noises, innuendoes abounded, and those Zoom lessons just kept getting longer.

On a ship somewhere on the North Sea, Eric orchestrated a dinner with the help of our friends Heather and Todd, during which a guest singer came to serenade the restaurant. He sang "Love Is in The Air" by John Paul Young, moving from table to table, and Bern, too busy studying the singer's vowels and embouchure, had no idea a whole army of the ship's crew had gathered on the stairs behind him to witness the moment. The singer dropped off a box at the table ("oh how nice," thought Bern, "a box of chocolates!"), Eric opened the box, a jaw dropped, babbling ensued, and a quick yes.