Our story began on a chilly fall night at a small park in Big Flats NY. (Caden's View) A close friend of mine (Joey) and Grace's sister (Shana) had arranged for the four us to hangout along with a few other mutual friends. We had all agreed to meet and play a game of late night ultimate Frisbee. What I didn't know was that the only people being invited were the two of us. I finished my shift at work, was picked up by Joey, and headed to the park a few miles away. The entire time I was asking him questions about Grace and what she was like, trying to build a mental picture of the girl I was soon going to meet. We arrived at the park and after throwing on a baseball hat and a different change of clothes, we waited for the girls to arrive. After some brief introductions, our night began. We played soccer, threw the Frisbee around, talked about our favorite movies, and discussed how worried we were about the upcoming semester. The night finished, but I knew we weren't. After a few short months of getting to know each other I knew this was going to be the girl I would marry. (Grace's View) Shana had wanted me to meet her friend Caden for a while and I finally agreed to go on a blind date. Unlike Caden, I knew it was only going to be the three of us. It was late and I really didn't want to go anymore but Shana kept bothering me so I decided to go. It was a fun night of hanging out and getting to know him. When we talked it was like we knew each other our whole lives. The nights following we had a few little encounters until finally he decided to ask me out on a real date. After that night we got each others numbers and we just couldn't stop talking. A few weeks later, Caden took me up to a beautiful spot that overlooked all of the twin tiers where he asked me to be his girlfriend. From the first day we met to right now, he has always surprised me with his romantic gestures and his love for me and my family. I knew then and I know even more now, he is the love of my life.

The first step in getting to the words "will you marry me" began with a long conversation with the D'Angelo's. Yes, all of them. The first thing you learn when being welcomed into this crazy bunch is that family is everything. I didn't want to leave anybody out of this. After getting them all in the same room at the same time and buttering them up with a little cake, I asked them all if it would be okay to marry Grace. What I got in return was a lot of shouting and some crying, all positive. The next step was figuring out exactly how to go about doing it. Rose brought up the idea of asking a close friend of hers whose father was a pilot and owned a helicopter to help us out. To our excitement, Mr. Denoto (the pilot) was willing to help out in any way he could. We picked our day, planned where it would be, and hoped that the weather would be on our side. After a few weeks of intense planning and some stressing, the day arrived and so did the fog. We were contacted by Mr. Denoto who informed us that he couldn't take us up if it didn't clear, so it was onto plan B. It was decided that we would find a beautiful spot in Letchworth State Park and surprise her with a 25-foot long banner (that I had spent all night painting) with the famous words written across it. After driving all around the park with Grace confused on what the heck was going on, we got a call from Mr. Denoto and the fog had cleared! Quickly we switched back to the old plan of a "family helicopter ride". Of course, only Grace and I would be going. After arriving at the landing pad we were rushed to the helicopter and up we went. We flew over all the lakes in the area and saw all the beautiful scenery. Finally, the moment was here and we landed. We stepped out of the helicopter, turned around and there everyone was, standing with the banner stretched out. Grace saw the sign that said "will you marry me" turned around and there I was down on one knee, through the tears she said yes. The rest is history.