From the first date there was an immediate connection that was an entirely new and unique feeling for me. I knew very quickly what I had found. After less than 6 months of dating, and over a year in advance, the ring was purchased. Queue COVID, the world goes into lockdown. I got to the point where I was tired of waiting for the rest of the world and decided to just go for it. I very sneakily used a day off to drive down to Florence and meet with Lisa’s parents to ask permission to marry their daughter. For the record, this lunch was WAY more nerve wracking than proposing. However, in their credit, John and Amanda made it very easy for me and were incredibly welcoming. I thought long and hard about where to propose, this task is much more difficult when you’re both introverted people. A crowded restaurant or some grand flashy moment filled with friends and family never made the list. I landed on one of our favorite date spots, Wonderspaces Art Exhibit. The pandemic actually worked in our favor, appointments required, less people, and much more personable. After walking the exhibit all the way through to decide on the spot I landed on a large colorful igloo. I’m hoping it was much more romantic than that sentence just made it sound. We walked past this igloo twice, both times it was empty. On the final pass to go inside there were multiple groups inside and waiting in line. Now I had to REALLY insist that I wanted to see this exhibit one more time before leaving, so we waited around for 30 minutes looking at other exhibits again. Of course, that was a very long and anxiety filled 30 minutes for me. I’m sure Lisa was trying to figure out why I loved this one weird igloo so much. Finally, most of the groups moved on and we got our turn! I had an entire speech planned out, but when I dropped to one knee my entire mind went blank and all I could manage was a simple ‘will you marry me?’ Knowing me, even that was awkward and quiet, but luckily she said yes!