Kirsten & Emmanuel
Our Story
Emmanuel Aryee
Groom
Emmanuel (Manny) was born to Edward Aryee and Regina Mills-Aryee in Accra, Ghana where he spent his formative years. He moved to the States when he was 17 years old together with his parents and his big sister Lettice and kid sister Vanessa. He graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Biology and a passion for research before heading to New Hampshire for medical school at Dartmouth. In further pursuit of his research, Emmanuel moved to Boston after graduating medical school for a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard. Next, he will be moving to Milwaukee to start his Pediatric Residency at Children's Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Emmanuel loves music and dancing, watching sports (still praying for Manchester United) and movies. He can't wait to celebrate his marriage with all his friends and family.
Kirsten Dickins
Bride
Kirsten was born to tenacious and warm mother Maralee Sansone Dickins and unconditionally loving and humorous father Graham Frederick Dickins. Kirsten and her world class big brother Garrett grew up in a house full of endless delicious food, ever present music, and laughter in Naperville, Illinois. She stayed in Chicago for college at DePaul University and graduate school at the University of Chicago. She attended Yale University where she then became a nurse, returning to Chicago to become a family nurse practitioner at Saint Xavier University, and earn her PhD at Rush University. For the past 3 years, Kirsten has lived in Boston, Massachusetts, where she completed her postdoctoral research fellowship and began her first faculty position at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Most recently, Kirsten has become an Assistant Professor at Rush University where she will continue her community-engaged research. Kirsten loves her dogs Kosmos, Luna, and Astro(naut), reading, writing, baking, cooking, and long distance running/biking/walking. She is looking forward to dancing the night away with each one of you at the wedding celebration.
Kirsten and Emmanuel
Our Story
We first met at a research class at Massachusetts General Hospital in late 2019. Emmanuel sat a few rows behind Kirsten. Next class he made sure to find a seat closer to her. Although we didn't discuss much (surprisingly), we surely left an impression on each other. Fast forward a couple of months, we met again at Grand Rounds at the hospital, where we both arrived late (not surprisingly) and serendipitously stood by each other in the back of the room. We recognized each other from the research class and spent the hour making jokes...and then making plans for coffee to discuss a research assignment; Emmanuel definitely thought it was a date. We texted for a few months at the start of COVID, until we went on a few 'official' dates, and next began a relationship. After two years of dating, we became engaged in early 2022 in Nantucket, Massachusetts...in pure perfectly planned Emmanuel form, by the ocean at sunset. We were officially married this Spring in Boston, in the special city in which we first met, before we moved together to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Next up, Emmanuel will start his Pediatric Residency, and Kirsten began a faculty role as an Assistant Professor at Rush University. We are so looking forward to celebrating this joyous occasion with all of you!