C & Z

A lot of people ask how Zachary and Catherine met. Zachary will say they met through a mutual friend, or Catherine will say they met at Slippery Rock Dining Hall (Boozel). Both of these are true, but here is the real love story...

During Catherine (Cat) and Zachary's (ZT) freshman year of college, they swiped right on each other and exchanged numbers but never heard from one another again. UNTIL Cat saw him at Boozel one day with his roommate Ben, who was also one of Catherine's friends, and connected the dots. They hung out a couple of times during freshman year, but with summer approaching, they decided to part ways.

Catherine and Zachary rekindled their friendship when they returned to campus for their sophomore year in September. Zack asked Cat out on their first date, and they went to Primanti Bros. in Grove City. Afterward, they became inseparable and started dating on October 28, 2019, after Zack asked Cat to "go steady." However, Cat needed him to officially say "boyfriend and girlfriend" so that nothing would get lost in translation. Zachary brought Catherine home to meet his parents over Christmas break, and little did she know, she would also meet his grandparents (Nunny and Papa). Zachary thought it might be too much for one night, but Catherine went ahead with it. That was also the night she found out what calamarí was... after she ate it.

In March 2020, Zachary and Catherine both returned home due to COVID-19 and ended their sophomore year of college a little early. But that didn’t keep them down on their six-month anniversary when they met at Bird Park in Mt. Lebanon (not social distancing). Then, in Fall 2020, all SRU classes were moved online for the 2020-2021 academic year, but that didn’t stop them from moving back to their college apartments with their roommates. It also didn’t stop Zachary from being dragged to Catherine and her friends’ yearly pumpkin patch visit.

In May of 2022, they both graduated from Slippery Rock University side by side. Catherine graduated with a degree in Integrated Marketing Communications, and Zachary completed his degree in Business Administration with a double major in Management and Marketing. By August 2022, Cat was still living in North Huntingdon while working at DICK'S Sporting Goods Headquarters in Coraopolis. Zack was working at ADP in Robinson, and they would meet every other week for a "Date Happy Hour" after work, so Cat could wait out the traffic. Then, by October, Cat had had enough of the "long-distance" and decided to move into her first apartment in the South Hills, all thanks to Zack for driving the big U-Haul truck—since Cat and her mom didn’t want to drive it.

By 2023, Cat had started her job with the Pittsburgh Pirates, while Zack was an Assistant Manager at Sherwin Williams. At this point in their relationship, Zack took Cat to a Motley Crüe/Def Leppard concert. Then she took Zack to his first country concert to see Luke Combs! Over four years later, Cat and Zack had both been invited to each other's family functions, and the big question was buzzing around Zack: "When are you going to propose?"

In August 2024, Zack finally decided it was time and began looking at rings for Catherine after months of pestering from both her and her friends. Cat and Zack traveled to Gatlinburg, TN, to celebrate their anniversary and fell in love with the area. Everyone and their mother thought this was the moment, but still, no ring. On 10/28, they marked 5 years of being together. They celebrated at Pittsburgh’s Monterey Bay with a nighttime skyline view... still with no ring. After Cat returned from a 4-hour car ride with her friends, Zack was insistent on going to Station Square for Texas de Brazil (during the Steelers game). Catherine's cousin and her boyfriend were hiding, ready to capture the moment when she said "YES."