I first met Eddie at work in 2018 at the Chicago Blackhawks. We were both working the Halloween Skate and it was not Eddie's monster onesie/skate combo nor my orange pumpkin shirt and face paint that allowed for love at first sight. Working in sports your intern group quickly become some of the only people you talk to during the season, so Eddie and I became fast friends. I gave a simple invite out to one of my family's infamous Northwestern tailgates where Eddie turned up. My mom notes this day as a significant shift. This garnered a few happy hour invites each with our friend groups that brought a more personal note into our relationship. In the office, I would subtly adjust my route to fill my water bottle to pass his desk and chat. Down in storage, he always seemed to need something when I was setting up for game days. And there were a lot of late-night walks post-game to my car. Then came the downtown birthday invite from Eddie that left me frantic as I was already on my way up to the suburbs in Chicago traffic. I chose to call a girlfriend and ask if I should turn around and she will tell you to this day that is the moment she knew something was different about this one. After that, we had established there was a connection we ultimately both fell fast. Following a concert, one night, Eddie and I stopped by the famous Bucktown spot, Dog Stand, for some late-night food. It was under the fluorescent neon Chicago Hot Dog sign that Eddie told me he loved me. Our lives quickly became intertwined moving in together, surviving a global pandemic, and adopting our dog Brew but things really picked up in our short-lived cross-country move. By the time we had moved back to Chicago Eddie had a plan.

The tricky part was finding a good hiding place to get the ring all the way to Italy without blowing the entire surprise. I needed a spot in our overpacked suitcases that I knew there was no chance she would ever need to go in.... electric head razor. Being bald comes in handy every once in a while. Once that was figured out, it was all eyes toward boat day. We planned an all-day boat excursion well before the engagement plans had come to fruition, and once those did, and after talking it through with Hailey's parents, I came to the realization that the universe had given me the easiest layup of all time... a private boat off the Amalfi Coast... yeah, that should work. The day of the boat we both woke up incredibly excited, internally I'm a mess but apparently I did pretty good at hiding this, so she says. Hailey decided we should share a bag for valuables, which was a real problem because finding another hiding spot was hard enough, let alone in a bag full of her own things. Wrapped in my socks was going to have to do. We met our two charming Italian captains at the port, and we were off. We cruise the Mediterranean for a bit and we make our first stop at this beautiful cave carved right out of the cliffs. I'm freaking out and want to just get it done so I sneak to the back of the boat and grab the ring out of the bag. While Hailey is admiring the (insanely) beautiful scenery, I flash the ring to our captain and ask him to take a picture of the moment. He gives me the most adorable, surprised look and says "No no, not here. Wait for the Arches". I figure this guy is an expert on the Amalfi, if he's telling me to wait until then I better trust him, so I agree and ask "Great, when do we stop there?" Our captain casually says "Well it's our last stop"... we're 30 minutes into an 8-hour day. I die a little but again, this guy's the expert. I quickly re-hide the ring and work my way back to the front of the boat as if nothing happened. Somehow, I make it through the entire day without a complete mental breakdown, which was one of the most insane days of world-class views and one of the best meals we've ever had at this amazing beachside restaurant. We are finally pulling around to where the famous Capri Arches are. Our captain sneaks up to me and whispers in my ear "Prepare the ring". I sneak back, grab the ring, and work my way back to the front of the boat... freaking out! As we are pulling straight toward the Arches our captain starts filming with his phone, and in his adorable Italian accent gives us a cue that will forever live in our memory "Take a picture, cheeeeesee." Kneeling side by side, this was it, it's happening. I pull the box out of my pocket, pop up to one knee... and immediately black out. I think there was a yes somewhere in there, and as if almost planned, a packed tour boat pulls by us cheering and screaming, with one amazing passenger loudly reminding me "Put it on, you have to put it on." And straight out of a movie, as the ring goes on to Hailey's finger, our captain swings around to congratulate us with two glasses of champagne to enjoy our ride literally off into the Amalfi sunset.