To have and to hold

Like most modern romances, we met online. That is, unless you ask Kurt’s mom Lilly who for the first month thought we met while Kurt was fishing on Spring Creek, and I was walking my dog, Winnie.

We quickly decided we wanted to meet. Most people would suggest going to get a drink, taking a walk, meeting for a cup of coffee…..but not Kurt. His idea of the perfect first date was us making homemade pizza. This involved me tirelessly hand-kneading pizza dough while Kurt was outside stoking the pizza oven. We ended up burning the pizzas, but making one of our favorite memories.

There is a park in nearby Bellefonte that we frequently go to, so that Kurt can feed the ducks and I can get a drink at the local distillery. It is a special place in our hearts where not only have we gone on dates alone, but taken trips with our family and friends as well. It was a very (VERY) cold winter night, and Kurt asked if I wanted to go to our favorite park the night before leaving for St Thomas. My first instinct was to say no considering we had to wake up at 2 AM to leave for the airport. However, he seemed so excited and happy that I had no choice but to agree. We went to our beloved park that evening, which is usually filled with hundreds of ducks and people, to find it completely empty. There was no one and nothing in sight except for string lights and a Christmas tree. While standing under the string lights admiring the Christmas tree and wishing we were some place warm, I turned around to find Kurt down on a knee asking me to marry him. It was an easy yes. We then had a celebratory drink and a frozen pizza before spending a week in paradise!