Amanda and Grant began their story in Mr. Plato’s 5th grade class when they were first boyfriend and girlfriend. Amanda recalls Grant asking to hug her in the cubbies, and Grant remembers bringing Amanda a bracelet from his vacation in Aruba. After their tragic breakup (but how tragic is a break-up at age 11?!), they went their separate ways throughout Middle School, and even more so in High School when Grant eventually transferred to a school in NJ to focus on his wrestling. Amanda would remain in Somers, eventually graduating from Somers High School, and Grant would move again to Pennsylvania and graduate from the Bald Eagle Area High School. The two share a common love for their respective sports, soccer and wrestling of course. They both went on to compete in college, Amanda at Florida State University and Grant at the University of Illinois. Growing the distance between them even more, Amanda moved to England to play soccer for Liverpool and Grant went the opposite direction to graduate from California State University at Bakersfield. Somehow, through the power of the internet, the two reconnected and became pen pals of sorts. The story is fuzzy with who “started it”. Grant believes Amanda messaged him first and was persistent, and Amanda stands by the fact that Grant started liking all of her pictures from her recent move to Europe and was practically begging for her to message him! After months of constant talking and skyping, they finally met in person back in New York for July 4th—they were pretty inseparable ever since. Grant flew out to England to see Amanda just a few weeks later, and she reciprocated by buying a one-way ticket to see him in California (it would either go horribly or go great). It indeed, did go great, when an impromptu drive to Mexico found the pair drinking tequila and playing cards, leading to Grant asking Amanda to be his girlfriend. 6 years later he finally proposed on January 1, 2020, the easiest ‘yes’ Amanda ever gave.