Pratt MWP September 2009. I won't ever forget seeing Dennis's name hand written on my list of mentees. He decided last minute to go to Pratt in Utica, and I got to be the person to help him move into his dorm. His mom (Laura) took one look at me then another at him, and later told him with a slay smile he had to stay focused. I think she guessed something.

The day Dennis proposed was so not casual, but also so very casual. He had surprised me with a trip to France, and maybe that should have been the first and only clue, but consider me clueless. It was the last day of our trip and he asked me what I wanted to do. We were in Paris, flying out the next afternoon, and really all I wanted to do was walk around and check out some thrift stores. He wanted to check out the Turkish neighborhood he used to visit with his Dad. So we made our plan. Go for a walk, check out local shops, and grab some great Turkish food. It felt like a normal day back home in NYC. A bit into the afternoon we needed a break and decided to go hang out in the park in front of the Lourve. We found a spot to relax and Dennis asks me if we should take a picture in the park. He then proceeds to ask these two girls sitting close by if they would take a photo of us. Only, Dennis speaks French, and I do not. So I didn't know that he told them what he was about to do. As I turn to him he is about to kneel, but I didn't realize he was kneeling. "Oh!" I think to myself "this is a sitting photo" so naturally, I go to sit down too. Before I get the chance to join him in the grass, he is on one knee with a box open in front of him "Will you marry me?"