Jack and I met in 2011 when I was a freshman in high school and he was a junior. We were both in the marching band and before football games would grab food with the same group, which is how we first got to know each other. In true 16-year-old boy fashion, Jack sent me a message on Facebook one day and after exchanging a few messages, asked for my number. At this point, I was oblivious that he liked me despite us texting almost constantly. Throughout the next few weeks, I developed a huge crush on Jack the more I got to know him. A few weeks into talking, we had a band competition a few hours away and Jack sat next to me on the bus ride. We basically shared our whole life stories on that bus ride and by the end of the evening, we were almost holding hands (this is still a huge point of contention in our relationship lol). The next day, we finally stated the obvious: we like each other, and Jack asked me to be his girlfriend. We've been together ever since!

The original plan was to go have a nice lunch and head to our favorite spot in Boston, the Harbor Walk. I had everything planned from the speech to the photographer. However, everything changed when COVID-19 forced us to self-quarantine. We needed to stay inside, so I changed the plan. I created a PowerPoint with some of our favorite memories. Since we had already been quarantined for several days, I made sure we put on decent clothes and looked nice. After Katie got done drying her hair and came back to the living room, the presentation was loaded on the TV. She immediately began crying and I made my speech, got down on one knee, and asked her, "Will you please marry me?" like the true Southern gentleman I was raised to be. Of course, she said yes!