Once upon a time, in a land not too far away, there lived a girl named Casie and a boy named Griffin. Despite being born entire worlds apart (for Casie was born in Pinehurst while Griffin was born in Raleigh), the stars aligned to overcome this insurmountable distance in the summer of 2009. In those olden days, Casie would often visit her friend Kori’s house for a chat and a frolic. Little did she suspect that a family with three boisterous lads would rent the house next door each summer. Inevitably, all of these children would meet one another and go gallivanting quite merrily together around the lake. Casie and Griffin continued to see each other annually during the summer months but, as the years went on, it became more difficult to get everyone together. These were dark times, when the noble shaving cream battles of old were replaced with college prep courses, standardized tests, and number 2 pencils. As Griffin and Casie went off to different colleges, they lost contact for a few years. And the land went into a deep frost. But all was not lost. Fast forward to 2016, when Casie returned to the land some call Pinehurst to rest and prepare for her final year of undergrad. She was shocked to find her homeland was missing a feeling it once had of old. Thinking of Griffin, Casie sent a raven to inquire if he might still be in the area. Griffin lived only an hour away, and was excited to see Casie again despite the dire circumstances. The two immediately hit it off and spent many weekends together that summer. When Casie returned to Ohio for her senior year, the pair continued their relationship long-distance. During those two semesters they saw one another over the holidays and met halfway in West Virginia, where they would explore incredible local attractions such as the rockiest trail ever hiked and the worst Chick-Fil-A ever eaten. All was well within the lands they traversed during these happy times.

Following Casie’s graduation and the summer full of adventures that followed in North Carolina, the long-distance resumed when Griffin moved to Baltimore to pursue his MBA. To stave off the threatening darkness, the pair became regulars at the rest stops along I-95 as they each made the 6-hour quest to see one another as often as possible. Their relationship continued to grow as they spent many weekends together exploring Baltimore and enjoying each other's company. Before beginning his final semester of grad school, Griffin set up a trip with Casie and a group of friends to spend a weekend amongst the mighty peaks of the North Carolina mountains. On the final day of that quick quest (January 6, 2019) Griffin got on one knee and proposed to Casie at the Yonahlossee Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The world stopped to take a breath and the sun burst from behind the clouds to capture that long awaited moment as the pair stood upon the edge of the world. Casie was so surprised and emotional that Griffin hadn’t even launched into his award-winning proposal speech before she began sobbing too much to hear him. Hoping that this strange reaction was not one of complete and utter despair, Griffin managed to get out "will you marry me" to which Casie answered with a resounding "YES!" through her tears. The birds began chirping again and all the people celebrated as a new dawn sprang upon the land.