Tom and I met in March of 2018, at a bar in Bally, Pennsylvania called, The Bally Hotel. We hit it off, exchanged numbers, and text one another off and on for a month or two, before we lost contact. A few months later, I came across Tom's name in my phone, and decided to text him. I figured I would use the drink he once promised me, but never took me out for, as my ice breaker. After jogging his memory, and a little back and forth banter, we finally made plans for that drink. One drink, and Tom and I were inseparable. I would try to find reasons to "surprise" Tom at Margaritas, knowing darn well that I just wanted to convince him to hang out with me after his shift had ended. Rarely, if ever, did he tell me no. Most nights he'd finish his shift and we'd cruise down to Pizza Pub, where we would hang out before parting ways to just do it all over again.

My paternal grandmother, Madeline, passed away very young. My grandpop, Thomas, kept her ring. When he passed, the ring was willed to "a grandchild to be engaged", as he wanted to bring her vintage ring back to life through a proposal. Two weeks after Amber and I began dating, I asked my Uncle John, who was safeguarding the ring, to give it to me, as I was certain that Amber was the woman who would ultimately fulfill this destiny. How could someone be so sure of something so quickly? As Amber would say often of our relationship, "when you know, you know." As time went on, we quickly moved in together and eventually acquired a little kitten named Ellie for Amber's birthday. I observed Amber as she would help correct this little ones behaviors, trim her nails, brush her teeth, clean her litter box, and tend to her after a surgery she had. Amber's energy was the embodiment of a mother's love. On November 14th, 2020 we went to visit a friend in the Poconos for his birthday. On the car ride home, Amber kept saying how much she loved me, how she longed for a family, and that she would marry me on the spot. I knew I wanted the same thing as her. When we got home from our friend's house, I decided to tell her that I felt the same. I dropped to one knee and revealed this heirloom to her that I had been hiding for three years. It was a very simple proposal, one that if we were on social media wouldn't look the most exciting, but it was perfect, because it was us. It was perfect because I knew those that saw it live, were those that were looking down from the heavens. It was perfect because I know my grandparents were there with us, quietly observing the ring take its new life. Although I never met my grandmother, Madeline, I am certain her energy lives through Amber everyday. I look forward to the future with Amber as my wife and all the blessings God will bring.