Brian and Melissa first met in the 4th grade at Sandidge Elementary School. Melissa was the "new kid" and was in many of Brian's classes. They spent many hours together during school and in choir. It was there that their friendship began to grow. Outside of school, Brian and Melissa would spend Friday nights hanging out at the Tinley Roller Rink and periodically talk on the phone. It wasn't until years later that Melissa would find out Brian had a "secret crush" on her during their time at Sandidge Elementary. In 7th grade, Melissa moved and was enrolled in a different school and continued her education apart from Brian. Despite this, Melissa stayed in contact and maintained their friendship throughout the years. Fast forward to 2019... Brian began to invite Melissa out for lunches at local restaurants where they would talk about anything and everything for hours! Their lunches soon became a regular thing. One evening, Brian decided to meet Melissa at Post Games for a drink. At this point, Melissa did not think anything of them hanging out at night and had no intentions other than being friends. Later that night, as Melissa and Brian were saying their goodbyes outside of Brian's house, Brian kissed Melissa. As soon as Brian kissed her, she stated, and I quote "Um, that was awkward, I thought we were just friends." Brian jokingly replied,"friends don't kiss their friends back." From there, they began seeing more and more of each other. One of the first moments where Melissa clearly remembers having feelings for Brian is when she went away on a Halloween weekend in Indianapolis to visit her college friends. Melissa and Brian were talking via text message throughout the night as they both were celebrating their individual Halloween weekends. At the end of the night, Melissa texted Brian, saying that she was hungry. Brian asked her what she wanted, and she replied, "McDonalds because it's the only thing open at this time." Brian "jokingly" asked for Melissa's location and sent Melissa and her friend Vanessa McDonalds via Uber eats at four am in IN! Melissa realized that no one had ever cared that much if she was hungry or not. Brian's efforts made a great impact on Melissa. Brian and Melissa continued to be "friends" when Brian came to Melissa's Thanksgiving dinner to meet her family. Thanksgiving was a turning point in their status of being "friends" when family members were questioning their relationship status. On Thanksgiving night, Melissa's friend Kimberly encouraged Brian and Melissa to tell one another how they felt about each other. Long story short and a few bottles of Romance Red later, they confessed their feelings for one another. On December 19th, 2019, Brian went with Melissa and her cousins downtown to the Kris Kringle Market. Later on that evening, Brian asked Melissa to officially become his girlfriend! Their relationship and love for one another began to grow and grow. They bonded over their life goals, love of food, snowboarding, golf, family, and their friends. Everyone who knows Melissa and Brian knows their family, friends, snowboarding, golf, and Crush are very important to them. In February 2023, Brian and Melissa excitedly planned their first snowboarding trip to Colorado together. This was Melissa's first time going to CO, and they also planned to visit family. During the drive to CO, they spent time discussing their five year plans and enjoying quality time with one another. On February 15th, while snowboarding on Schoolmarm, Brian ditched Melissa halfway down the run! Melissa eventually met Brian at the bottom, where he got down on one knee and asked Melissa to be his "forever snowboarding partner" and to marry him. "When the bells sound and you turn around, I'll be walking down the aisle."