Aria and I met last January in Springfield, Illinois. We were both sent to a five week long Correctional Officers training course with five different counties by our employers. Aria was a Correctional Officer in Lake County and I, at Kankakee County. Neither of us were suppose to be attending that training and we were sent last minute due to unplanned circumstances. I noticed Aria day two of training when she tried to ask me a question by referring to me as "Kankakee" since no one knew each others' names yet. As cliche as "love at first sight" sounds I knew instantly I needed to get to know her. The next few weeks consisted of long days in class followed by long nights spent studying with newfound friends and, of course, a few taco and margarita nights. Toward the end of the program, I sprained my ankle which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it provided me an opportunity to get to know Aria more when she volunteered to take me to the emergency room. Those five weeks, which I originally predicted to drag, seemingly flew by. When graduation day approached, I had bittersweet mixed emotions. I felt proud that my classmates and I had made it through the training and ready to get back to my normal life. However, saying goodbye was the furthest thing from my mind. I did my best to prolong it - after graduation Aria and I went to dinner at Flat Top. The inevitable goodbye followed too shortly after. We got in our cars and drove our separate ways back to our "normal lives." I cried on the way home wondering if that was the last time I would see her considering the distance between us. Every part of me wanted to turn my car around back to her. In that moment, I made myself a promise that this goodbye would not be the end of our story. The rest is history.

March 27th, 2020. The day I asked the love of my life, Cassidy Rae Stalnecker, to be mine - forever. It was a whirlwind of a day where nothing went as planned but everything turned out perfectly. We dressed up for a date of take-out Olive Garden to change things up from our quarantine “routine”. As we got ready, I teased that tonight could be the night I proposed - just as I had many times in the months and weeks leading up to “the mega move”. On the way to pick up dinner, I made a pit stop for a “mini move” at a beautiful little gazebo where we danced in the rain to one of our favorite songs - a moment of peaceful romance before my nerves kicked in. As we waited for our food to be ready, I did everything in my power to keep my heart from pounding out of my chest. Meanwhile, Carlie (our maid-of-honor, Cass’ sister, and one of my best friends) and Lisa (Momma Stalnecker), quickly and efficiently set the perfect candle-lit scene on our front porch. After months of planning, our vision was brought to life, astoundingly more breathtaking than I had imagined. Walking into our house, I helped my soon-to-be fiance out of her coat, set our dinner aside, and led her by the hand toward our front porch. I opened the door and, with all the voice I could muster up, said “It’s the mega move.” Astonished, with tears filling her eyes, she replied, “Reeaally?” A beautiful love song filled the air. Luckily, I wrote down what I wanted to say because it was such a blur. I got down on one knee and asked “Cassidy Rae Stalnecker, will you marry me?” “Well, duh!” she said and kissed me. My nerves were instantly replaced with overwhelming joy and excitement with the anticipation of our future together.