It started with a Facebook friend request and quickly escalated from there. Christopher, worried this lovely woman would get swept up by the next guy, asked her to be his, having only talked for less than twelve hours. After a week of dating, they were able to go on their first date, and their parents dropped the two off at The Arcadia Theatre in Wellsboro. Opting to leave his winter coat behind to seem cooler — and because he was so nervous — Christopher, without words, immediately embraced Courtney in a hug. They saw the movie "Tron: Legacy," talked before the previews started, and made out — typical high school teens. If you asked the couple the plot of the film, their answer would be and has always been, "they raced" — what a synopsis. To cap the date off, they walked down to Dunkin' Donuts where Christopher's mom would pick him up after dining over a maple frosted donut and a strawberry Coolatta. Before he left, Christopher made sure to kiss her goodbye and zip up her coat. Making sure she was warm was his warmth.

Courtney went off to Lycoming College a year before Christopher graduated high school, and he came to visit her every Sunday. Torrential blizzard or shine, Christopher brought his busboy paycheck every weekend, always hoping for a Monday snow day or cancellation, so he could fall asleep next to his dream girl. After lots of Sunday lunches out, ice skating, roaming around the mall, and aimless drives, Christopher graduated high school and was attending Lycoming one year later. Lycoming was the couple's first taste of living together, as each spare moment between classes was spent together, and each weekend was like a honeymoon. The first year, Courtney would stay over on Wednesday nights and weekends, and as the years passed, it quickly grew to every other day — and in her senior year, every day. During Christopher's WISE internship, they essentially lived as a married couple, grocery shopping together, cooking breakfast together, and coming home to each other's arms.

After months of fruitless apartment/job hunting near Philadelphia, in September 2017, Christopher and Courtney listened to their hearts and moved to their favorite city, Williamsport, Pennsylvania — specifically her residential sister to the south. Their first night, they couldn't believe they were finally together on their own; it didn't feel real, as they laid in bed talking till they fell asleep. In the sweltering summer months, Christopher and Courtney slowly and sweatily assembled and laid out their lives together, taking the form of two video gaming TVs, homemade art, and all their rag-tag furniture from college, but regardless, it was their home.

It was Courtney's birthday and Thanksgiving in 2017 and the day Christopher asked her to be his. They ate dinner at Courtney's grandparents' house — they and her mother had given him their blessing days earlier, and were flawlessly hiding the fact — and then at Christopher's parents', where his inability to keep secrets showed. Heading back to Wellsboro, Christopher insisted we go the long way home — a drive he doesn't go unless we are going to Corning, New York, the weather is bad, or need to go into downtown Wellsboro. Courtney knew what he was up to. Walking down breezy Main Street, Courtney was getting cold, but Christopher insisted they walk down the other side of the street, a side they've seen a million times. They were back at The Arcadia Theatre, outside where Christopher first held Courtney in his arms, and this time, he got down on one knee. Christopher met her here when he was just 15, with nothing to say like all teenagers, but after seven years of perfect love, now he had everything to say to her. And she, she couldn't stop saying yes.

Christopher and Courtney made an agreement that when she got her first full-time job, they would start looking into adopting a cat. And a few weeks after their engagement, Courtney got that job, and they were on the prowl to look for another member of their growing family. First, they checked the local PetSmart, and they met a cat named Portia, who Christopher liked, and Mercy, who Courtney liked, but neither felt a connection. So, they headed off to the Lycoming SPCA one cold night, and met with two lady cats, Babs and Charlene. In the sterile room with a reflective window, Courtney and Christopher were meeting with Babs, who ended up biting Courtney, drawing blood. Though Babs would eventually be adopted, this put her in quarantine for ten days. While Courtney was getting cleaned up and signing releases, Christopher pulled up a chair to Charlene's cage, telling her he couldn't pet her, with Babs' bite in mind, but Charlene had other plans. Charlene reached out of her cage and petted Christopher herself, stretching far out and rolling slightly, doing "the move." Days later, Christopher drove Charlene home to South as Court got Olive Garden to go, quelling her soft meows every few highway signs with casual conversation and love. Christopher placed her box in the center of the living room, and opened the top — Charlene was hesitant to hop out, but she eventually did, sniffing around, and ending up relaxing in the bathtub, a spot she'll never get over.

Back when The Sylvania restaurant was open outside of Galeton, maybe two years into Christopher and Courtney dating, an old man asked the couple, "When are y'all gettin' hitched?" We finally have an answer — eight and a half years into our relationship, almost nine, on October 12, 2019. We'll say "I do" under the vaulted, industrial ceilings of Clearstory in the Pajama Factory in front of our families and friends who've become just as close.