Even the people who were there when their relationship had it's first spark, may not know that they actually first met back in 2016 from mutual friends that were dating. A few years later, Kennedy was back home for the summer and for her first internship in Syracuse so she started playing volleyball at the local YMCA. She knew Josh used to play there and even texted her friend on her way in the first night, "I wonder if Josh still plays here." Josh arrived a little after Kennedy and said with surprise "long time, no see!" Kennedy left that night texting the same friend “I forgot how funny Josh was.”
They both started to look forward to volleyball those three nights a week to see each other. They'd both even park next to each other as an excuse to chat while walking all the way to their cars. Eventually, Josh's friends started to tell him to ask her out because they could tell she liked him and the other volleyball regulars asked if they were dating. They weren't (yet). Six months later, Kennedy was approaching the time to return to classes at RIT for the spring semester. Kennedy kept bringing up a new horror show that just came out, Haunting of Hill House, that she didn’t want to watch on her own. Josh decided he should take the hint and asked if she wanted to watch it sometime.
Fast forward a few weeks, and they were spending as much time together as they could before she left. Josh brought Kennedy to his friend’s New Year’s Eve party (the ones who were nudging him to ask her out). Although they didn’t kiss when the ball dropped, a few hours later they had their first kiss when Josh said “it’s probably midnight somewhere.” Followed up with “would you like to go steady?” With just two weeks of “going steady,” Kennedy returned to Rochester for school but they both realized that 6 months of having a crush on someone can make you fall in love pretty quickly.
Two and a half years later, Kennedy graduated from RIT and after finding a job in Cazenovia, they got their first apartment together in Syracuse. They were coming up on a year of their lease and decided to start looking into buying a house. During a hectic housing market, their 17th offer was accepted and they closed on their home a month before their lease was up. A month later they adopted their dog, Nori.
After a year and a half being dog parents in their new home, they started going ring shopping before their 5 year anniversary. On March 2nd, after a morning of playing volleyball, having a relaxing afternoon cleaning up around the house, and going out to dinner somewhere new, Josh proposed in the kitchen with Nori by their side. The next day they went on a nostalgia tour of driving by Strong Hearts (a vegan café where they had one of their first dates), getting coffee and breakfast at Recess Coffee (one of their favorites), driving past their old apartment, and driving up to the Thornden Park lookout to eat and enjoy their coffee like they used to.
On September 19th, 2025, they will get married with their friends and family at the Craftsman. Kennedy wondered how you’re supposed to just pick a wedding date out of the blue but decided on a fall wedding because they are both October babies and the 19th to commemorate the year they started dating. A venue also felt like a big decision but The Craftsman has a special meaning. Following the New Year’s Eve party on their 2nd anniversary, they were gifted a room by the same friends from two years prior. The Craftsman is also across the Fayetteville shopping plaza from the YMCA, where their relationship first started.