心から歓迎申し上げます

We met at one of Tommy's brass band shows through mutual friends Garrett Berkey and Sierra Jessup. Sierra invited Erin out to see Garrett play with the band; what Erin didn't know is that Tommy would be on stage as well.... Erin saw Tommy performing and immediately wrote him off as out of her league (true story), but when Tommy came down to mingle with the crowd, we struck up a conversation. What began as a group hang somehow turned into just Tommy and Erin excitedly talking together. Tommy had to go back on stage, and when he scanned over the crowd and made direct eye contact with Erin (and got a little wave) he knew something was happening. After circling each other for about a month, Erin took charge and asked Tommy out for a drink. On our first date Erin had a crappy salad, Tommy got us lost, we both had one beer too many, and we walked and talked for hours....and we haven't stopped since!

We had agreed that mid June was around when we wanted to get engaged, but Erin didn’t want to know exactly when. If you know Erin, you know that she excels at sussing out secrets almost as much as she likes being surprised. Tommy had his work cut out planning a surprise engagement, but after a couple of false starts everything was finally falling in place. On the morning of June 20th 2020, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, and Erin suggested that we go for a stroll in Woodland Park. What she didn’t know was that she was playing right into Tommy’s plan: two of our closest friends were lying in wait with champagne, cameras, and Erin’s family on a group call! Erin took the time to put her hair into an elegant braid and check over her nails (which another friend had surreptitiously convinced her to paint days before), and Tommy was certain that the jig was up. But Erin still had no idea what was coming; we strolled leisurely past the zoo, Erin talking about the future and Tommy struggling to play it cool. As we crossed the bridge over Aurora from the zoo to the park, the topic of wedding planning came up, and Erin said “I guess we shouldn’t plan too much before we get engaged!” …60 seconds later, from behind a huge beautiful tree came friends, champagne, and huge smiles. As soon as Erin realized what was happening, her eyes got very wide and her hands flew up to her mouth. Neither of us really remembers what was said, except for “Erin my dear, will you marry me?” Followed by a huge “YES OF COURSE” and Erin tackling Tommy to the ground. Tears, laughter, and celebrations continued on into the afternoon, and we leapt whole-heartedly into our next chapter.