Thomas and Elise first met in the fall of 2021 during their junior year at Anoka High School. They crossed paths in their history and biology classes. During the winter trimester, they ate lunch together with a group of their friends. That spring, Thomas joined Elise's youth group at Hope Fellowship, and they soon became best friends. Thomas quickly fell in love, Elise was more tentative. However, she never texted anyone as much as she texted Thomas during that summer and their senior year of high school. They bonded over a shared love for Jesus and His Church, so it wasn't hard to have fun at Hope Fellowship and to have theological discussions as Thomas read through Elise's college papers. In their last year of high school, Meghan Holgrimson launched an investigation into the love life of Thomas; she sought to discover which of her friends he may have had a crush on. Thomas had long since been head-over-heels for Elise, but had not told a soul. Meanwhile, Elise never thought in a million years that the guy she liked would ever like her back. After months of prying, begging and pleading, Meghan discovered that Thomas liked Elise, and she told him that Elise liked him back. This was a random Wednesday in February of 2023. That Saturday, February 18, Elise and Thomas met with their youth pastor at Caribou in Anoka to plan their senior sermon. After coffee, Thomas invited Elise to go for a walk. On one of the swinging park benches down by the river he proceeded to admit his feelings for her. At first Elise was hesitant, but she eventually caved, and within moments, Thomas and Elise were boyfriend and girlfriend. That spring, they planned their first date, they shopped for their CHOM/Prom outfits, they began to get to know each other's families, and they graduated high school together. Thomas and Elise continued their education together at Bethel University that fall, both planning to become teachers. Fast forward to summer before their senior year at Bethel, now 2025, Thomas took Elise on a walk that paralleled that of the day he first asked her out. They walked around Downtown Anoka, all dressed up from their dinner date. Once they arrived at that familiar bench down by the river, to Elise's surprise, Thomas got down on one knee. (And Elise said yes!). The date was May 29th, 2025.