Grace and Keaton met the old fashioned way; on an online dating app. After matching, they messaged each other for almost two months before finally meeting for pizza in Morgantown. Grace had no idea at the time how far away Keaton drove for this date (an hour and a half), and by her own admission she probably would’ve said no if she had known. But Keaton knew from their messages back and forth that this girl would be worth the drive. They had another date at a coffee shop where they got to know each other a little better and realized they had a mutual love of hiking. They agreed to hike at Cooper’s Rock State Park the next time they hung out. Keaton brought his dog Shadow, who approved of Grace right away. On the hike, Keaton REALLY wanted to kiss Grace. Specifically he wanted to kiss her in front of the Henry Clay Iron Furnace, but right before he got the nerve to do so, Shadow rolled around in a huge mud puddle and shook mud all over them. Though poorly communicated, this was another sign of Shadow’s approval. Grace and Keaton continued to date semi-long distance over the next year and a half, before Keaton moved to Morgantown in the fall of 2019. During this time, Keaton earned Grace's affections by cooking most of their meals while Grace began the long process of helping Keaton to be a better person. On April 30, 2020, two years to the day after their first kiss, Grace and Keaton went on another hike to the Henry Clay Iron Furnace at Cooper’s Rock State Forest. Shadow joined them again, this time carrying an engagement ring in the zipper pocket of her harness. Keaton proposed in front of the furnace, right where he had initially chickened out exactly two years before. This time, Shadow understood the stakes and decided to pass on the mud. As Grace and Keaton get ready to build a life together, they are excited to continue supporting each other’s goals and dreams. They are confident that wherever life takes them, they will always have one another to lean on.