In January of 2017, Mary was stumbling around Cambridge with her brother and cousin when she got a text from a friend saying they're at a bar nearby with a cute single boy. Naturally, she made her way to the bar right away (after walking in the wrong direction for the first ten minutes). That night, Mike was talking to Mary's cousin for the majority of the time, while Mary was trying to play it cool 'enjoying' the football game. They both effortlessly made an impression on each other. The next weekend Mike asked Mary out on a double date with their friends. The following week, the two of them went to Jillian's in Fenway Park where their true competitiveness was put to the test right away. Mike beat Mary in bowling, and Mary beat Mike in air hockey (and Mike planted his first kiss). The rest is history...

We've played a lot of golf and tennis and I dragged Mike to plenty of spin classes. We have enjoyed lots of beer and vodka soda's, endless laughs (with and also at one another) all throughout Boston, to Vermont and Connecticut, to Nantucket, California, Florida, Texas, Mexico, Maine, Canada and everywhere in between. We fell more in love with each other every day and grew as a couple with our family and friends supporting us each step of the way.

Mary always mentioned that she'd want her family around when I propose, so I knew our annual Ft. Lauderdale trip seemed perfect. I asked her parents around Christmas while enjoying a gourmet Subway grinder. After the original engagement ring was stuck in transit to Florida, my jeweler went above and beyond to create/ship the exact same ring which arrived on the 11th hour. As we enjoyed a fun dinner out, we finished the last part of the walk on the beach and that's where I popped the question, steps away from our condo! Mary was in complete shock and at first thought I was kidding! To this day I will never forget the look on her Nana's face as she literally ran to the sounds of Mary crying with joy. Although we could not have my family with us on that special night (thanks covid), we celebrated and face-timed with everyone who was sending us best wishes. It was a week of celebrations and one we will never forget! It's even funnier looking back since Mary had no idea why Lilli, Brian, and I were waiting around for a "package".