Our story started the way many modern romances do: on a dating app. I sent him a message asking about his skydiving experience. He asked me out for a Sunday beer at Sheffield’s (after first making sure the Colts weren’t playing, of course). It should have been a sign of good things to come when we showed up in matching buffalo plaid button-downs. After a few hours discussing the typical first date topics, we decided to take advantage of the unusually warm November day and walk home together—it turned out we lived just four blocks apart. Before parting ways at the corner of Waveland and Wayne, Kyle made sure to secure date number two.

Summers fly by in Chicago. It’d been awhile since Kyle and I had been back to Gilson Beach, a quiet spot that became “ours” over a year before when Kyle picked that place to first tell me he loved me. We were due for a return trip. We planned a fall picnic there for Saturday October 5th, but as the day drew closer, the forecast called for rain. I suggested we move the picnic to Sunday, but Kyle said he had to work over the weekend and preferred to go on Saturday. I let it go. There were a few other hints that pointed to the fact that that was THE DAY, but I’d already guessed wrong three times before and didn’t want to get my hopes up. The rain held off, and after eating we sat there enjoying the sound of the surf (well, I was enjoying it, Kyle was obsessively checking the weather). Finally, he gave his speech, got on one knee, and popped the question. I tried not to black out and said “yes.” As we headed toward home (and it started pouring), Kyle told me I needed to cancel the plans I'd made that night with my friend Jes, because now he and I had dinner reservations. I was a little annoyed he hadn’t just let Jes in on the secret so I wouldn’t have to cancel on her last minute. We pulled up to our first date spot, and Kyle led me to the back where I was truly surprised to find Jes (I guess she'd known for awhile), my siblings (including Mark who’d flown in from Denver), and many of our Chicago friends who Kyle had assembled to celebrate our engagement. It was perfect.