We met while we were both working at Quinnipiac University in Residence Life. Caitie was there to welcome me to move into my apartment. It was a Sunday, in January, so the Cowboys were playing the Giants, and Caitie, as a Cowboys fan, was expected to tip the balance between her dad, cowboys fan, and her mother a giants fan. Caitie asked “Are you good? Cause I have a football game to watch” and left in a hurry. Over the course of the next few months of working together, watching Game of Thrones and other events we finally figured it out.

Fast forward to March 2017 in London, England, there we were enjoying the sights and sounds. I had the ring on me and I had a plan…or so I thought. Picture this; my idea was to wait until the end of the trip as a capstone to what was a memorable week in a beautiful city. We would be in a park (didn’t matter which one) and we would be people watching and relishing in the atmosphere. I would not say I am the most traditional person (though I am compared to Caitie) and I was never really planning to do the whole “one knee” thing. I was more planning for the surprise proposal, take the ring out as she looks away, have it there when she turns back. A London park in early spring would have been a perfect setting for that, for us. Unfortunately, none of that happened. Halfway through our trip to London, I fell sick and it became increasingly harder to find that moment. So still seeking that surprise moment, Friday came and we had finished packing for our flight the next morning. I hid the ring under her pillow for her to find as she went to bed. I can say that regardless of the setting the moment, the happiness and the excitement was everything I could have asked for.