You could say that evil brought us together. For our freshman year at American University, we decided to be part of a living-learning community that centered around exploring "The Nature of Evil." That meant taking a year-long class covering some pretty heavy topics, going on field trips around the city, and sharing a small dorm with our classmates. After we moved into our dorm, our class went on a little excursion into the city, grabbing dinner at Amsterdam Falafel, strolling around Dupont Circle, and browsing Kramerbooks. We started a conversation and immediately hit it off, talking all evening long. There was something magical about that evening, and Dupont Circle is still special to us. We even took our engagement photos there!

By the end of freshman year, our friends could tell we were interested in each other and pestered us to make a move, but we both said that it would be awkward to change anything so close to summer break-- but who knows what would happen in sophomore year? As soon as sophomore year started, we made an unspoken plan to hang out at least once a week, watching "Firefly" and visiting local restaurants together. After an outing to the Maryland Renaissance Festival, Jeff texted Megan asking her to meet him on a bench on the quad. There, he asked her if she would 'consider dating' him. After graduating from AU, we worked opposite and busy schedules and only really got to see each other once per week or so, making the long metro trek between Virginia and Maryland each way. But by 2018, Jeff had moved to Virginia, started a new job with more regular hours, found more free time for social activities, and got involved with Megan's community theatre groups! Soon, we set up a home together in Bailey's Crossroads.

Our 9th anniversary was October 30, 2020 and Jeff kept saying that he wanted to make it special despite the pandemic restrictions. We planned to order dinner from one of our favorite restaurants and dress up in nice clothes even though we were just eating at home-- and Jeff added that he had a special surprise for after dinner. Megan somehow calculated based on Jeff's hints that he was going to get an Edible Arrangement. Instead, after dinner, Jeff brought out his surprise-- beautiful flowers in Megan's favorite color. Then, he knelt down and asked her to marry him, though she was so distracted by looking at and smelling the flowers that it took her a few seconds to realize what was going on! After asking several times whether he was REALLY sure, she gave him a teary yes! We didn't have enough time to call all of our family members and share the good news before a virtual Halloween party we'd been invited to. It was hard to keep the secret at the party while we were bursting with excitement!