They say, “when one door closes another one opens.” However, that wasn’t what brought Jacey and I together. It was more so the opposite. Introduced by a mutual friend I was instantly attracted to the athletic, outgoing, and beautiful woman we know as Jacey Delaney. This is where the door closing comes into play.. I thought I would shoot my shot and start up a conversation with Jacey. And after a couple of failed attempts and Jacey figuratively slamming the door in my face, my persistency eventually paid off and I was able to get my foot in the door and grab her attention. Jacey picked me up from the airport when I came home and I instantly was in awe because she was even more gorgeous in person. We quickly realized how much we had in common. Even though it was technically our first time meeting in person, it felt like I had known her my whole life and felt so comfortable that I asked her to come meet my Dad within an hour of being together. Which she so respectfully turned down, she didn’t want to rush things so I waited until the third time together to introduce her. There was something about Jacey that I Instantly fell in love with. Her motivation with her work, her competitiveness, her kindness, and just her general presence drew me in. I was home for 10 days, and what was supposed to be one date turned into 10 days in a row of spending time together. We started doing distance from New York to Montana for a couple of months while we both finishing up our Senior years of college. We drove across the country together TWICE, and if you ever want to see if you can marry someone, drive 36 hours in a car with them and you will find out whether it's a yes or no real fast. I asked Jacey to marry me in April of 2020, but I would’ve asked her the first week I met her. She was able to support me and be there for me through the hardest times of my life. Every day is a blessing to get to spend it with not only the love of your life but your best friend.

Eric and I met in what seemed to be a one-time chance. In early 2017, we were introduced in a group chat via social media and it seemed like it would never be anything more. Come fall 2017 my family was out celebrating a Griz win at the same time Syracuse had just upset Clemson. Eric’s face came up during a post-game interview on a TV directly next to our table and my Dad nudges me insinuating something between us two. (If you know Mike Delaney, you know how unlike him this is but clearly, he had some sort of crazy intuition). I told my Dad I actually kind of knew who he was and after he didn't believe me, nothing more came up of the interaction. While interning in Oregon summer of 2018, Eric had a week to come home from Syracuse. With the intention to maybe meet up once, I ended up picking him up from the Airport which lead to being together 10 consecutive days, and inseparable ever since. After knowing him for 5 days, I ended up telling a friend that I was confident Eric was the guy I was going to marry. This quickly turned into doing distance for a year followed by a move from Montana to New York, Connecticut, Syracuse, Cleveland, Dallas, and back to Oregon all within the following 6 months. My parents flew out to Syracuse to meet Eric his senior year. I asked my Mom what she thought of him to which her response was “I think you’ve met your Mike" which was the ultimate approval. April 12th, 2020, we got engaged in the same place we’re set to get married in. We can’t wait to celebrate with the people who are most important to us!