Lets go back to 1999- My Dad (Dave Freitag) coached my older brother Cody’s pony-league baseball team which Kenny Combes and Matt Combes both happened to play on. My 8-year-old self attended most practices and most games. I’d sit in the stands, or in the dugout, or at the concession stand, but was too scared to actually be a bat girl. I had just began listening to N’Sync and Backstreet Boys and was crushin’ on the blondies Nick Carter, Lance Bass, Aaron Carter, and oh….Kenny Combes. Fast forward to my college days (2009-2013)- my Mom (Karen McCann Cutler) worked at the neighborhood 5/3 Bank. She would always tell me how Kenny Combes would come in and was so polite and ALWAYS asked how Cody and I were doing. I never thought too much of it until January 2014 rolled around- it was a Saturday night out in good-old Lakewood and for some inexplicable reason (maybe it was Harry Buff) Kenny Combes popped into my head. I was determined to track him down. I acquired Kenny’s number and decided to reach out. We haven’t stopped chatting since. I remember telling my Mom I was talking to Kenny and she was pretty excited- she had the opportunity to have many of Kenny’s family members as customers at the bank throughout the years and told me how cool it would be to be part of such a fun family, and she was not wrong! My Dad was not opposed to me connecting with Kenny either, I mean, he was the best player on his pony-league baseball team.

Oh the pressure. I have a tendency to overthink. When I finally built up the courage to ask Anna’s dad for his blessing I had one problem, HOW? I couldn’t just ask him “Hey, want to grab dinner?” Way too obvious. After hours of contemplating I hopped in my truck and drove over to his house. I came up with the excuse to randomly show up and pitch a few dinner table designs he could build Anna and me for our new house. When I finally got over there I was so nervous he suspected something but I played it cool and took my time. The nerves began to kick in and I remembered why I was there. I took a deep breath and asked him the big question. Pretty sure I blacked out for a few seconds. Once I regained consciousness I realized we were both sitting there laughing because we just spent the last hour watching mid century modern dinner table designs on YouTube when I was actually there to ask for his blessing to marry his daughter. Unreal. More importantly, he said yes and we hugged it out and I was on top of the world. On the way home it hit me- How in the world can I surprise Anna who can read me like a book? She always knows. The nerves started to kick in again. *don’t black out again* Pretty sure I ran over a squirrel. Oh the pressure.

Ok that was a little dramatic and I made up the squirrel part. Months went by and I got “the call” from the jeweler that Anna’s ring was ready. I didn’t have a plan yet, but I realized Mother’s Day was coming up. I knew how much Anna’s mom would appreciate being there for the proposal. Without making it too obvious I decided to host a Mother’s Day brunch. Little did she know I was about to ask her one and only daughter to marry me. I went and picked up the ring and hid it under the seat of my truck for safe keeping. Before I knew it, the time had come. I couldn’t wait. My family, my mom, Anna’s mom, all gathered in our kitchen and I gave a Mother’s Day toast with Anna by my side and the ring in my back pocket- then, I got down on one knee. I told her I loved her and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Guess what, she had no idea it was coming. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. I’ll never forget Anna’s reaction and how beautiful she looked. I finally did it and we cannot WAIT to celebrate with everyone.