Ciao!

At the beginning of 2017, Caitlin decided to take some time for herself. It was a new year and she wanted to, like, ~follow her bliss~ or whatever. And she wanted a break from dating apps and bad dates. Shortly before this hiatus, Caitlin matched with a cute guy on Bumble and asked him to tell her his best dad joke — it was "What's Forrest Gump's WiFi password? 1Forrest1." The conversation never went anywhere, and soon, he disappeared from her matches so she deleted the app. In early February 2017, Caitlin, though no stranger to internet fame, found herself going viral on Twitter. She had responded to a guy who graded — and posted — his cheating ex-girlfriend's apology letter for grammar. Being a writer, Caitlin left a cheeky response to Nick Lutz. His post and her response exploded online — they still get comments to this day — and the two exchanged texts, laughing about the ridiculous situation. They didn't have much in common, as he was a young college kid in Florida. A few days later, amidst a flood of emails, Caitlin spotted the subject line "Two Nick Ls walk into a bar..." She was intrigued but fully expected yet another creepy, weird email. What she got was the opposite — an extraordinarily thoughtful, sweet, and kind message from "a more age appropriate Nick" who actually lived in Atlanta. And when Caitlin looked up Nick Luscre online, she discovered it was the same guy from Bumble who had disappeared from her matches months earlier. Despite her sassy response to him, she was ecstatic he came back around, although she's not sure Nick quite remembers all this. They began texting nonstop, and Nick finally asked her to go on a date to go bowling and play games at Main Event. They hit it off immediately, even though Caitlin was terrible at bowling despite talking herself up. Nick and Caitlin shut Main Event down and made plans to see each other again the next day. And pretty much every day after that.

Since they were seeing each other almost every night anyway, Caitlin and Nick — along with their dogs Kida and Gigi — moved in together that summer. Their relationship endured Caitlin's stressful job, Nick coaching soccer on nights and weekends, and keeping two big dogs in a one bedroom apartment surrounded by Midtown Atlanta traffic. They survived football season as respective Alabama and Georgia fans, the holidays, and Caitlin's two-week jaunt to Thailand. They stayed together through sleepless nights when they brilliantly decided to adopt another dog a week before they moved into their new — thankfully larger — apartment. Caitlin and Nick have been at each others' sides during job transitions, car accidents, and apartment break-ins. Through silly fights and important ones. Through hospital visits, emergencies, and surgeries. As Nick would put it, they're teammates — and good ones at that.

Caitlin and Nick got through 2018 together and rang in 2019 back at Main Event where they had their first date. They were hoping for a less eventful year, but Caitlin's body had other plans. Shortly after Nick's birthday in February, Caitlin ended up in the ER where they discovered a tumor in her bladder. She had surgery in mid-March, and Nick became a very good nurse. There was no doubt he was The One after he stayed up every night for two weeks to empty her catheter bag. The couple had been planning a trip to Miami for the first week of April for a belated two-year anniversary celebration, but Caitlin wasn't cleared to fly so their trip was canceled. Nick insisted they go on vacation and planned a trip within driving distance to Savannah. The night before they left, knowing Caitlin loves itineraries, they made plans for each day of their trip. The plan was to drive down on, go to lunch, check in at the hotel, walk around, visit a brewery, and do trivia at a local bar. So, on Wednesday, April 3rd, Caitlin and Nick drove to Savannah, grabbed lunch, and checked in at the hotel. They took a nap and got spruced up for the night. They strolled along River Street, got drinks, and did some people-watching. They walked up and sat in one of Savannah's many squares, listening to street musicians and chatting. Caitlin was getting hungry so they walked back toward the brewery for dinner, when Nick pulled them over to another square to look around. He pointed out some cute archways covered in ivy as a good photo spot, and Caitlin, of course, took the opportunity to take a selfie. She examined the photo and went to take another one, not thinking anything of it. When she looked over at Nick, he was holding a very sparkly ring in front of her face. She pushed him, said a lot of expletives, and barely let him say his speech. She said yes before he could even ask, which suits them perfectly. Caitlin was shocked, and Nick was pleased he was finally able to surprise her for once.