I met Madison for the first time when he joined my best friends, Ryne and Cassie, in helping me, a perfect stranger, move into an apartment during college. We did not really get to know each other until Cassie invited me out to drinks at the Riverspirit casino one night. We had margaritas and sat around a firepit by the river at night. I loved the vibes. We all chatted and soaked in the moment. That night is so special to me. We saw each other once or twice a year from 2016-2023, most reliably at Cassie’s friendsmas party each year. In 2024 I was finally able to convince Madison to take me on a date after a friendsmas party to see if we really had something between us. The rest is history.
After months of Hannah thinking I was going to propose every single time we went out, I finally picked the day to pop the question. We had already been forced to reschedule once due to weather, so even though the new date was looking a bit iffy too, I decided to commit no matter what. The day started with my mother, Donrae, coming up with a cover story ahead of the holiday: she claimed she wanted to take Hannah’s daughter, Cera, out for some early Mother’s Day shopping. Seizing the opportunity, I suggested that while Mom had her, Hannah and I should go out on a long-overdue date. We’d been wanting to try Daigoro since it opened, so I went ahead and made reservations. The date started beautifully. We were enjoying the view from the patio and having a delicious meal. But then, the bill arrived. I handed my card to the waiter. He went inside to run the payment, promptly returned, and—in a not-so-quiet voice—announced that my card had been declined. I had no clue why that would happen. Trying to save face, I checked my bank account while making sure to say loudly enough for the neighboring tables to hear, "I don't know why that happened, I have PLENTY of money in there!" Hannah offered to pay, and knowing we had a tight timeline to meet the photographer at the proposal spot, I took her up on it. I still had the waiter run my card one more time just to be sure. He returned to let me know it declined yet again. Luckily, Hannah’s card worked perfectly. Completely unsure of what was happening, I finally examined my card. It turned out that after years of shop labor debris and miscellaneous pocket lint sticking to my magnetic money clip, the magnetic strip on the card was scratched to beyond return, causing a read error. Fortunately, I was able to reimburse Hannah right away. And even more fortunately? She still said "yes" about 20 minutes later. Never a doubt!