Time to party!

Griffen finally asks Cece on a real-life date! Cece suggested Rosy’s Tacos, a cute spot just “off campus” but still close enough that she could make a quick escape if needed. Since they lived in the same apartment complex, they agreed to meet in the lobby. Of note, Cece texted “in the elevator!” when she had in fact not even put her shoes on yet since she was in the middle of a heated debate with her roommates about whether a hot dog counts as a sandwich or a taco. Fortunately, this became an excellent icebreaker once she finally made it downstairs. They walked to Rosy's together, sat outside in the beautiful September Philly weather, and devoured their tacos and margs. They talked about college, Ohio (argued over Skyline Chili, compared favorite Kings Island rides, and agreed on the best Graeter's flavor), and country music. Time flew. On their walk back, Cece tried to talk sports and brought up the Miami Heats, thinking each player was a 'Heat', Griffen almost threw up in disgust at her lack of basketball knowledge. Nevertheless, they made it back to their apartments and Griffen asked Cece on a second date (despite her sports gaffaw)!

After graduating from college, Griffen and Cece spent a blissful summer back in Ohio, attending Spencerville Summerfest, Reds baseball games, and many trips to Whippy Dip. In August, Griffen began his first job in Boston, while Cece returned to Philadelphia for her gap year, marking the start of their long-distance relationship. Although this was tough, they made each other a priority and tried to see each other at least once a month. It was also during this time that Cece started feeling resentment towards JetBlue for all the cancelled flights. Around the same time Cece learned she would be attending medical school in Arizona, Griffen received a new job offer in Los Angeles. This meant their East Coast long distance quickly turned into West Coast long distance. Thankfully, direct flights made it possible for them to continue seeing each other about once a month, even with their demanding schedules (shout-out Mayo for your selective weeks!). Then, Cece moved to Florida to start her clinical rotations and the true test of a coast-to-coast long distance began. Spoiler, it did not last very long because Griffen looked for and found a job in Jacksonville later that year (thanks Grif)!

Griffen told Cece that he had an AKPsi class reunion/date night in Philadelphia, since they had not been able to have a proper graduation send-off due to the pandemic. Plus-ones were invited, so he asked if Cece wanted to join. Of course, she said yes! On the way to the airport, Griffen’s Uber driver, unaware that he was on his way to propose, spent 30 minutes ranting about how young men like himself should not settle down too early and needed to “get it all out of their system” or risk becoming alcoholics later in life. Griffen politely chose to ignore her advice. Cece was none the wiser to Griffen's request to walk along the Schuylkill River before the reunion dinner. As they approached the gazebo behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the spot where Cece had once told Griffen he should have kissed her for their first kiss on one of their early dates, Griffen nervously began talking about their life together and what their future might look like. He eventually manned up and proposed. Although, in reality, he had blacked out and never actually asked her to marry him. Instead he just asked if she was going to say yes. Thankfully he had the foresight to write all his thoughts and words out on a card that he gave to her later that night. Afterwards, their families emerged from under a tree and the photographer revealed himself and Cece cried. They recreated the proposal because Cece's sister didn't like the jacket she had on. Then, they all went to dinner together and it was the happiest day of their lives (until 6/20/2026 that is)!

While Cece and Griffen were doing long distance, they had always said that once distance was over (probably once Cece started residency) they would finally be able to get a dog because there would be two of them to take care of it. However, Griffen really took one for the team and moved to Jacksonville in September 2024. They talked about getting a dog but ultimately decided to wait until after the holidays, since they would likely be back in Ohio for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Griffen took this decision quite literally. On the day they flew back to Jacksonville after Christmas (landing at 10:00 a.m.), Griffen vowed that he was not going to bed until they had a dog. After stopping by the Jacksonville Humane Society (sadly all the small dogs had already been adopted) and by PetLand (the pricing here was ridiculous), Griffen found a family in Tampa who was rehoming puppies. He showed Cece the 3 that were left and she fell in love with the almond and white one. By this point, it was around 7PM and Tampa was a 3 hour drive. They decided they would just "drive there to look at them" and that they "didn't have to get one". Who were they kidding. Anyways, they had literally zero dog supplies, so they stopped by a Tractor Supply Co. on the way down to pick up a kennel, leash, and dog food. They got to Tampa around 10PM, saw the little bundle of fur, and they knew their lives would never be the same (Cece did accidentally drop him so they felt this might have been a no-return policy). They drove home with Oswald and now they can't imagine life without the little menace!