Barret and Emily met in 2014 when they were both involved in the Student Interest Group for Music and the Arts, an extracurricular interest group run by LSU medical students. He was president of the interest group and a guitarist in "Barret's Esophagus," and she was head of the dance crew, the DiaBEATs. They always had an amicable and friendly relationship throughout their involvement in SIGMA, but one night they bonded over craft beer at Avenue Pub while celebrating September birthdays with other students in their class (and realized their birthdays were a day apart). After that, Barret started showing up at the coffee shop where Emily studied, initially on accident, then more regularly. Over the coming weeks to months, they went from sharing a cup of coffee and a muffin and comparing study notes to grabbing post-study drinks, and it became obvious to both of them how much they enjoyed, valued, and sought the other's company.

Barret definitely had the element of surprise, as Emily had stopped thinking that any particular travel opportunity would be a great time to "pop the question." They were visiting good friends from Emily's college days, Matt and Jessica, in Washington, DC, who opened their home, shared their pets, their cooking, and their company for a whole week. It was a drizzly day mixed with afternoon sunshine, replete with walking 14th Street, shopping, bar-hopping, playing arcade games, riding the metro, and reminiscing about living on Meridian Hill for a month during fourth year of med school, all culminating in the most amazing dinner at Rasika. Emily's belly was so full afterward, and she promptly went upstairs to put on pajamas (in true old-lady fashion) before coming back down to hang out with Matt and Jess and talk about the day. While upstairs, Barret came into the room with a goobery look on his face. He wrapped his arms around Emily and said, "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me?" She said "YES" and couldn't stop laughing, which turned to crying, and made Matt and Jess wonder what the heck was going on, until they came downstairs and shared the news, pajamas and all.