Dave and Sam both worked together at Target, who would’ve known a simple work text in January of 2023 would change their lives forever. Sam had 1 week left before transferring to the Target store in Towson, there had been a store visit that day when Sam sent Dave a text “Hey buddy…would you rather us unload half a truck for you all tonight or leave it?”….which then led to “Okay sir pleasure doing business with you. How are you doing?” We text non-stop over the next several days, and while neither of us were expecting anything after coming out of past relationships we were realizing quickly we had found something special. They then had their first date 4 days later at Forest Hill Lanes for burgers & a few fun rounds of bowling where they realized they both won each other. From there you could say the rest is history.

A trip to our home away from home in Tionesta, PA led to a story and our next chapter of life’s greatest adventures together. The trip had been planned for weeks, but the weather was not too cooperative and we had gone back and forth on if we should even still go on the trip, in the end we decided to go and make the most of it. Little did Sam know Dave had something special up his sleeve for months. We stopped at Wawa on our way and grabbed subs and chips to have a little picnic by the lake with the pups for when we arrived. With a mist in the air we arrived and enjoyed the scenery on the small dock at the lake while enjoying our lunch. Sam was taking it all in after eating her sub and chips not even realizing Dave was anxiously waiting for her to open her Jones Soda drink. This forced Dave to stand up and ask “well let’s cheers to our vacation” forcing Sam to finally open her soda and read the bottle cap which read Will You Marry Me. To keep with a running joke in our relationship Sam asked “Well will you marry me?” Dave responded pulling out of his pocket a small silicone container “You know I’m going to say no if you ask, but I do have a question for you….” As he continued to ask Sam to marry him and pull the ring out of the silicone container the container and ring went bouncing into the lake. Time felt like it stopped as we watched it quickly disappear into the darkness of the lake & Dave went in to attempt to recover it, but the water was too deep forcing Dave to come out. We had to come up with another plan. Sam called the lake marina boat rental while they drove to the only hardware store in town and the lady who answered gave her a scuba divers number and wished us luck. Sam with nothing to lose messaged scuba Ted about the current situation asking for help while Dave was in the hardware store. Dave came out of the store with the only goggles they had (orange kids fishy ones), an underwater flashlight, and a net in hopes it would help. He went back down to the lake while Sam stayed up with the dogs, but still the water was too deep making it too dark and impossible to get the sunken ring. So we headed to check into the cabin upset with how things played out and hoping for a miracle. Just then Sam received a response from scuba Ted who was more than willing to help the next morning. After back and forth texts we agreed to meet at 9am the next day back at the lake as he was driving from 2 hours away. We arrived at the lake the next morning trying not to get our hopes up. Scuba Ted arrived and we helped carry his equipment down to the dock. Scuba Ted went in the water at 9:20am as we waited anxiously. A few moments later he came up stating he had high hopes that he could find it but needed rocks to weigh himself down to the bottom, so we quickly got him rocks. At 9:30am he popped up out of the water with holding the silicone container in his hand he then lifted his other hand with the bright shining ring in it. With unbelievable excitement Dave got down on one knee to recapture the moment holding the ring tightly away from the water and asked Sam to be his wife again. SHE SAID YES! We asked how we could repay Scuba Ted for driving 2 hours to help save our engagement and find the ring in just 10 short minutes he refused to accept anything and said “just love each other and pay it forward”. The rest of this weekend we just that and we will be forever grateful to scuba Ted and the generosity of a complete stranger. A proposal we will never forget & our next chapter is…. WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!!