One late night, when Mark Shaw Jr. (Erin's cousin) and I were solving all the problems of the world, he mentioned that his cousin had just moved to town and that she had some things in common with me. Not only had she recently moved to Atlanta, but she played lacrosse (state champ no less!) and had also lived in Australia for a year after college. What a coincidence I thought? Might he have a picture?! Why yes, he did. Jackpot. I asked for her number, to which he quickly replied, “no.” No way he was getting in the middle. I was on my own. Being the expert at social media that I am, I had to figure out how to look her up. After some brief research, I learned how to, “slide into her DM’s.” For those who don’t know, that’s a direct message through her Instagram account. I sent a message and waited. Crickets.  Never the one to be shy, I figured a second medium, Facebook would do the trick. Being an elder millennial, I understood this move and navigated the instant messenger feature. She responded!  In this modern dating environment, Erin was looking for signs that I was not, in fact, a serial killer. When she saw that I used to play lacrosse with her cousin Kelly’s ex-boyfriend, she thought it was safe to take a chance and see who this guy was. But she wasn’t going to go on a date with just anyone. She wanted to talk on the phone first. After a brief phone call, I guess I passed the “safe enough to meet in person test” because she agreed to meet me at Six Feet Under in West Midtown for a drink. When she walked in, she made quite the impression. If you’ve ever spent time with Erin, you know what an incredible first impression she makes. Warm, intelligent, and not bad to look at either! Our date went so well, I immediately booked another date with her two weeks in advance. I even sent her a Gmail calendar invite. Subtlety has never been my strong suit 😁. From there, our series of dates turned more serious. Something special was a brewing. That something was love.

Erin brings out the best in me and makes me want to be a better man. Why? Because she deserves it. She leads by example. I was attracted to her openness, her authenticity, and independent spirit. What a lucky guy I am to have found her. Our values, our interests, our experiences lined up so well. After some adventures at Brawl for a Cause (the first time we went), ‘Coon huntin’ in South Carolina, and some Atlanta United games we officially started dating. This lead to the inevitable next step: meet the families! I invited Erin to meet my Dad and brothers when they were in town on business. Naturally, we ordered Antico Pizza and a case of beer. Erin has no problem “hangin’” with the boys. Erin invited me to meet her Aunt Treacy, Aunt Tish, Mimi, and Cousin Morgan. They ordered the same, gluten free pizza and wine. Same, same but different. Those initial meet and greets went well so we continued.

Next Erin came to Lake of the Ozarks to meet the whole crew. What a hit she was! Everyone loved her right away. Instant acceptance. I think my Mom got her like three presents. They had a special connection from the start. Everything was coming together smoothly with barely a bump in the road. Next up Rhode Island. The final test came in Weekapaug. Erin invited me up to her Aunt Pinky and Uncle Terry’s house for the 4th of July. It was time to meet her Dad, Tom. Naturally, Tom needed to check out the guy his daughter was bringing back to meet the family. He tells this story much better but it basically went like this: Test #1: “Ryan, would you like a tequila shot” said Tom. Boy would I. “Do you drink Guinness?” You bet. Test #2: “Ryan, did you play any sports in high school? I just happened to bring this football” said Tom. I knew I spent all those years training for something! Test #3: “Ryan, did you happen to see the market last week?” said Tom. Thank you Papa for the many years you made me wear a blazer and taking me to the Board of Trade, even if I thought, “I don’t look good in this!”

As our romance turned to thoughts of marriage, I realized I needed to get Tom’s permission to ask for her hand. I had passed the basic tests, but that was child’s play. To ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage, I would have to be able to navigate a Jets tailgate. I planned ahead and told Colin, Erin’s brother, about my intentions so he could give me some one on one time with Tom and run some interference. Erin and I came up for a Jets game in October 2018. We got to sit in their amazing seats and suffer through the Jets usual performance on the field. Once we got back, I hit him with his kryptonite, cigars. After sitting around the fire outside and beating around the bush for what seemed like an eternity, I finally worked up the courage and asked if I could have permission to marry his daughter. I even threw in that I would become a Jets fan if he said yes for good measure. Now that’s commitment! He agreed. After purchasing the ring, I began to put my plan into motion. I wanted to orchestrate some theatrics to throw her off the trail a bit. I asked my friend if he would do a photo shoot of us in Piedmont Park as a Christmas present to Erin. The location was right by a spot many Atlantan’s propose. Erin knew something was up and quickly organized an outfit with Hailey.  But no proposal was to come that day. This was all part of the slow build. I wanted to make a Christmas card that said Merry Christmas from Ryan, Erin and Bowie so we could introduce the idea that the two of us were serious to our friends and family.  Little did she know, that was also because I had another card made, that read, “Happy New Year from The Future Covert’s.” That was for later.

On New Year’s Eve, as Erin was getting ready to go to the Benedict’s New Year’s Eve Ball, I readied in the kitchen. I set up a tripod, put on my Tux, and set up some special presents. When Erin came out, dressed to the nines, and as music gently played, I asked Erin to come over to see the present I had made… Then I went down on one knee and popped the question. For a few moments and what seemed like an eternity, she stood there speechless. I was frozen. Finally, after standing back up and then getting back down on my knee, she said, “Yes!” The next day Erin and I flew to Mexico to celebrate! We can’t thank you all enough for your love and support as we move to the next stages of marriage preparation, wedding planning. We look forward to celebrating with you in Weekapaug, RI. See you there and thank you for being a part of our special day. We’re so grateful for your love and friendship.