Joe and I met 30 years ago. My best friend Patty and I were out on the town during the summer of 1993, driving down Scottsdale Road, when Joe and his friend Dan pulled up next to us at the light and asked if we had any Grey Poupon. We laughed of course! They then asked us to join them for a drink at Ernie’s, but little did they know, we were only 18 at the time. We decided to go anyway and Joe managed to pull some strings to get us into the bar. It was a wonderful time which then led us into a serious relationship for about one year. Unfortunately, we were both very young at the time and needed to grow and experience life a little more, and we both decided to go our own separate ways. Forward 25 years, Joe’s profile popped up on my Facebook as “people you may know”. I decided to message him and say “Hi”. Four months later Joe realized that it was me, his old girlfriend, and responded. We immediately started texting one another and rekindled our friendship. After a year or so, Joe asked me out on a date to Flemings and the rest is history. We both fell in love again and realized that we were the missing piece in each of our lives. We haven’t left each other’s side since that date and continue to fall more and more in love with each other every day. ❤️

Our proposal has 2 parts; Part 1 The secret of Joe asking me to marry him was accidentally announced by my Dad, but it was a memorable day for us. A week before my Dad passed away, the whole family was spending time with my Dad. We were all enjoying our time with my Dad, but somehow Joe had arranged time to speak with my Dad privately, where he asked him for my hand in marriage and his blessing. To our surprise, after Joe had asked my Dad, my Dad says out loud to the whole family “I have an announcement to make, my daughter Shannon is getting married! Joe is a wonderful man and I approve”! There was not a dry eye in the room. My Dad had his last wish and his last hoorah! I will cherish that moment forever! 🥰 Part 2 Joe had planned to take me out to a restaurant that I love, Spiga Cucina Italiana. It was a perfect night. We dropped Meghan and Grace off with their Nanna & Pops so they could “supposedly” make cookies. Little did I know they were all up to something. Joe and I went and enjoyed our dinner and afterwards Joe decided to drive through the DC Ranch Marketplace where he wanted to take a selfie of us near the beautiful Christmas tree in the Courtyard as we do every year. Well, this year was different! As we were sitting on the bench in front of the Christmas tree, Joe suddenly stood up, got on one knee and popped the question! It was absolutely perfect and so romantic! We then headed back to share the great news with Meghan and Grace and Joe’s parents Frank and Fran. As we walked into their home, it was dark, our song started to play and I could see candles lit everywhere, a huge cake and beautiful decorations. I was a bit confused, as I wasn’t expecting it, however as we proceeded to the kitchen, Joe turned on the lights and about 30 of my family and friends were there to congratulate us! I was in complete shock. It was truly the most memorable night of my life! 😍