Welcome to our adventure

Matthew and I met in a crosswalk. No, I’m not kidding! It was a beautiful, fall weekend evening in Potsdam, New York. We had each become separated from our respective groups of friends, when fate led us to both be waiting for the walk symbol at the crosswalk. While we were waiting, Matthew turned and asked me my name. We began chatting and walking together once the walk symbol appeared until eventually Matthew asked where I was from. “Oh, it’s a small town in the Catskills, you’ve probably never heard of it,” I replied. Matt challenged me with a simple, “Try me.” I told him that I lived in Cairo, to which he responded with a sly look followed by, “I’m from Greenville.” For those who aren’t quite up-to-date on their Upstate New York geography, Cairo and Greenville are about ten minutes away from each other. That night, we discovered that we had lived exactly fifteen minutes away from each other for years. Matthew and I ended up talking all night and from there on out, we were inseparable. We became an official couple just a few weeks after that magical night.

In March of 2020, I went to visit Matthew in Scotland while he was working on his master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh. For my first day there, Matthew booked us tickets to see the inside of the beautiful Edinburgh Castle. As we were walking around the castle, taking in all of its history, Matthew mentioned to me that we could one of the paintings up close due to his connection to the University. He asked a nearby employee to show us the way, and we were escorted outside, up a spiral staircase, and into a private room with a giant painting. I then noticed that there were two chairs, candles, champagne, and a rose set up. Before I was able to register what was happening, Matthew was down on one knee asking to marry me. I said yes, followed immediately with a frantic “Did you ask my parents?!” He did, by the way. We were then able to spend time alone, pop the bottle of champagne, and take in our first moments as an engaged couple.