During the latter half of 2019, Jimmy Burger had just graduated from college at Eastern Connecticut State University, was working a day job at a bank branch, coaching football at Sacred Heart University, but something was still missing from his life that he was determined to have; and that was true love. Given his desire to find someone to settle down with, he was subscribed to a number of dating apps, one of which was an obscure app called Clover, and little did he know that Emily Carriero was on it as well, after a friend convinced her to subscribe. On Thursday, December 26, 2019, the day after Christmas, Jimmy found Emily’s profile with a picture of her smiling ear to ear, and was immediately in awe of her beauty. He festered up the courage to write her a message that day, and not holding out much hope for a reply, he asked her how her holiday was. What he also was not aware of was the fact that Emily was at her friend Christina’s house with a group of her friends, and never thought anything would amount when his message came through. But, thankfully, her friend, Kathleen, who convinced Emily that she had commonalities with him, seemed like a nice guy, and knew someone that knew him, she should give him a chance and respond to him. The next day, she replied and said it was good, asking him how his holiday was as well. Out of that simple exchange, the ongoing conversation began. After a couple of weeks of messaging each other back and forth and eventually exchanging numbers, Jimmy found the courage to ask Emily out on a date. When she agreed to it, they met for the first time at Osteria Romana in Norwalk, CT on Sunday, January 19, 2020. When she walked in, Jimmy was sitting at the table already, but stood up and came to give her a big hug to greet her. After two hours of sharing stories, making each other laugh, and just great all around chemistry between the two of them, he kissed her goodnight, and she asked him to text her when he was home safely. For the next thirty minutes as he drove home, he was holding his breath, as he had recently been ghosted many times after first dates. But once he arrived home, he texted her as he promised he would, and put on a hockey game on TV as he anxiously awaited her response, hoping there would be one. A few minutes later, his phone lit up, and it was Emily saying she had a great time and to let her know when he wanted to go ice skating for their next date. This gave Jimmy maybe the happiest sigh of relief he had ever experienced in his life up to that point. As it turned out, the ice skating didn’t happen until their third date, as they went bowling together on Sunday, January 26, 2020. Emily had a difficult week leading up to that second date on Sunday night, so Jimmy showed up to the bowling alley with a bouquet of flowers to cheer her up, which put a big smile on her face. Which brings us to Tuesday, January 28, 2020, when Emily and Jimmy took the train to New York City for a day of sightseeing. After ice skating, a visit to the Freedom Tower and experiencing the amazing view from the top floor, they stood out by the Hudson River in each other’s arms just enjoying the moment together. Then, as nervous as Jimmy was, he found the words to ask Emily to be his girlfriend, and she said yes. And, as the existence of this website would suggest, they never looked back.

In January 2024, with their four-year anniversary coming upon them later in the month, Jimmy knew in his heart that Emily was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Luckily, he had his proposal idea fully planned out in his head, and with a little help from his friend Chad Stanton, he was able to make it happen. The original plan was that, on January 28, 2024 (their four-year anniversary of dating), Jimmy was going to take Emily for a hike up to the top of the mountain at Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden, CT, where they went on a date very early on in their relationship in March of 2020, and he would have the ring in his pocket the entire time, and pop the question when he got to the top, where Chad would be hiding in the watchtower taking pictures and video. All of this DID in fact happen, it just didn’t happen ON January 28th, as the weather forecasts early in the week showed heavy rain on that day, so Jimmy was forced to call an audible. He got in touch with Chad, and asked him if he could be there on Saturday, January 27th to capture the moment where Jimmy asked Emily to marry him, and he said he could. So all was seemingly good. Saturday the 27th came around, and Jimmy took Emily to Sleeping Giant for a hike, telling her there was something very cool at the top that he wanted to show her. It didn’t start out perfectly, as Emily wore a long coat not particularly suitable for walking on an incline, and combined with Jimmy’s nerves making him walk fast, it wasn’t ideal. But that wouldn’t stop him from making the day magical. Once they arrived at the top, Jimmy dropped onto one knee, pulled out the ring, and asked her if she would marry him. She said “yes” with tears of joy in her eyes, and after a special moment together of kisses and hugs and her embracing the sparkly ring on her finger, Chad came down from the watchtower to take more pictures and enjoy a walk down the mountain with the newly engaged couple. It was a day that will forever be cherished by Jimmy and Emily.