The Franz's

Nick and Lex met in Media, in the heart of everybody's hometown. They have a lot of people to thank for getting them to that moment in time when their lives changed forever. The red 2005 Ford Escape Lex drove and her bad habits of killing car batteries set them up for success. Nick jumped the Escape multiple times during their love story. Lex's dad found the first evidence of the first few dates in a Putt Putt score card shoved in the car door when she dropped it off for the final battery replacement. A dead car battery and a few quick Google searches start off their story. The two had many crazy dates in those first few weeks. The first date that started it all was to Brick & Brew on July 9th, 2021. They both floated home from this date on Cloud 9, questioning the luck of this chance encounter. Nick actually thought that Lex wasn't interested, as she agonizingly took days to send her upcoming work schedule. From the moment that schedule came through, Nick did everything in his power to win her over. From Putt Putt (Nick scored professional par, but Lex had the only hole-in-one) to Pinnocchios, a day trip to the beach, and many walks through Media, their too-good-to-be-true romantic story blossomed. After they shared their first kiss in a parking garage in front of a baby Lex was babysitting, hours before Nick headed off to California for a week, they both realized that this could be the one. When he returned, they were up against the clock and had to spend as much time as possible together, as Lex would soon be heading back to WVU in August. This was the start of 10 crazy days, starting the second Nick returned. They spent hours at the Spruce Street Park until all hours of the night. Then a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo seeing the tigers long before Tiger had entered their family. A Pick-Nick at Linvilla Orchards sealed the deal with a strawberry PB&J. They then saw the Union play together, with Lex under the alias of Chip. Nick braved every single ride at the Carnival in an attempt to impress Lex. Then a night at the Phillies, their relationship had already seen 2 Philadelphia wins (unheard of, so they must be good luck). The next day, Lex would leave work to attend Ava's graduation party, unofficially meeting the Franz family for the first time. Taking a break from the craziness of events, the two settled down for a day in the apartment that they would eventually share. In a day full of sugar and spice and everything nice, Nick made his first batch of Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and Saint Nick was Born. Nick then made an appearance at Homie's 59th birthday party to seal the deal and say their goodbyes. By that point the 300 and some miles couldn't stop their love from growing and the next 2 years would be full of long drives and facetimes.

Our dog Chief is 5 years old now! Chief was potentially part of the package when Nick and Lex started dating. In February of 2021, Lex had been at a covid testing clinic in WVU volunteering when a woman started talking about how she had rescued a whole litter of puppies from a few hours away and was looking for homes. Lex texted all of her friends and was somehow able to convince them to take in one of the puppies at their apartment. That night she picked Chief up in a Walmart parking lot and fell in love! With a friend group puppy, there was a lot of team work, but at the end of the semester, Lex took him home for the summer back to PA. The first time Chief met Nick, he barked up a storm. Nick was picking Lex up to go to the beach. Lex assured Nick that Chief was a group dog with all her friends, but within the first few weeks of fall semester, Chief had come to live with Lex full time. That September, Nick had his first official meeting with Chief and it was do or die! He came with Beggin' Strips in hand and a brand new frog toy. Chief fell in love just as quick as Lex did. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite ready to give up his spot in the bed just yet and spent a lot of nights sleeping and walking on Nick's head. Together now in Media, we all enjoy tons of walks, hikes and play sessions everyday! He was our first baby and he loves his brother and sister!

After a long summer together in Media, Lex went back to WVU to finish her senior year of nursing school. Nick innocently asked one day if Lex would ever consider getting a cat. She had never been against it, but wasn’t a cat person. Not even 2 days later, an email reached Lex at school with an opportunity to foster kittens for community service hours. She texted Kylee, who fully jumped on board. By the next day at 5 o’clock, 2 kittens were in their college house and Chief had some new friends. Several really cute selfies and many ridiculous videos later, Tiger won everyone’s heart immediately. He was by far a wild child and never failed to make us laugh. By Nick’s next visit to West Virginia, Tiger was officially part of our family! How could you say no to that face. Tiger traveled back and forth from Media to West Virginia a few times the rest of that year, but was by no means a car cat. He made that clear. His attitude and car troubles still crack us up to this day. Curiosity saved the cat in this case, because Nick will die on the hill that his innocent question gave us our Tiger Cat!

Nick and Lex had been living together for a few months. Lex had started her first job and Nick was busy that summer with grad school. They were both at home and Nick had just sat down to work on one of his papers for school that, by the way, absolutely needed to get done that day. To give him some time to work, Lex went outside to clean out her car. But life had other plans! Outside, there was a cat in one of the parking spots, obviously sick and in pain. Lex immediately called Nick, asking him to help and to bring out food, water, and a towel. Of course, he came to the rescue. Within 15 minutes, they were on their way to Providence Animal Center. They brought her in and they were able to take her, unsure of the prognosis or if she had belonged to someone. While they waited to hear, there was a large sign broadcasting the kitten sale going on that weekend. Lots of families had come in and out of the kitten room. They decided, "why not just go in?" It would be fun to snuggle and play with the kittens while they awaited news. So they did, spending hours in that room. Sadly, their rescue had not made it. The veterinarians informed them of the bad news as they played amongst the kittens. However, this bad news all but sealed the deal... they were taking home a kitten that day. But who? They had played with so many and so many had already been picked by other families. They had almost given up. Just then, as Nick wanted to leave, Lex plucked the tiniest, sleepiest kitten out of a hammock in the window. She was so precious. Her storm gray eyes were the biggest, cutest things that they had ever laid eyes on. They played with the sleepy kitten, worried she could not keep up with the 2 crazy boys at home. Little did they know that this little kitten, who they would call Ladybug/Bug/Buggy, would be the craziest of them all. They brought her home that day, and although she needed a lot of TLC at first, with Nick and Lex turkey basting chicken water to her to fatten her up, she made a full recovery. Today, she runs the house with her big bug eyes and unmatched athleticism.

Nick is a master planner and has never done anything mediocre and the proposal was no exception it was absolutely beyond perfect. Lex had been anticipating it for weeks, she was ready just in case. We had a wonderful morning walking chief, going out for breakfast and exploring the beautiful Tyler arboretum. But Nick insisted on going home because he had to go to the Union game. It was incredibly disappointing but Lex begrudgingly agreed to leave the beautiful arboretum with no hope left for a proposal that day. We got home and Nick went to get ready in the bedroom and Lex moped on the couch. Nick returned and grabbed Lex's phone, "The note in your phone is really gross huh?, Here I made you a new one." My heart skipped a beat when I read the love note that ended with Let's get married already!!. Then the proposal was on, Nick had planned an elaborate scavenger hunt around Media borough at all of our favorite places from our first few dates and big moments in our relationship. From Pinnochio's on date 2, to the baseball field where one of the car jumping events occurred, to our bench at brick and brew from our very first date, to our first kiss at West End Flats and then back to the finale at the park where we walk Chief every single day. The park where we talk endlessly about our life and our goals and our days while chief walks around in circles. It could not have been more perfect but on top of all that at each location was one of our loved ones who we couldn't have made it here without. They all joined us to celebrate for dinner. Then all our friends were waiting to celebrate even more after that. How Nick coordinated all of that and all of our family and friends without Lex knowing will be a mystery forever but truly shows his dedication and commitment to the start of this next chapter.