We must have met for the first time in grade school although we aren’t sure exactly when. Katrina was a grade ahead of Dennis. We had some shared friends in high school but don’t think we would have considered ourselves friends yet. After high school we became friends. Our friendship grew closer while we were both living in Warren County. On Columbus Day 2014, we decided that maybe we could be more than friends. We doubted our choice for a while and worried we would ruin what had become a pretty great friendship. We fumbled through friendship/dating for a few years and then in 2018 something just clicked. We have been inseparable ever since.

On the first day of our trip to Denver, we rented a car to drive up to Pike’s Peak. Dennis had planned to propose at the top (14,000 feet). In hindsight, Katrina should have been expecting it since Dennis changed his shirt three times before we left the hotel. Things didn’t exactly go as planned thanks to 60mph winds, altitude sickness, lack of donuts, closed bathrooms and a delightful hitchhiker. We left Pike’s Peak proposal-less and headed for the Garden of the Gods. Stopping first at the gift shop where Dennis was oddly persistent about Katrina buying a souvenir t-shirt which also should have been a clue. We went into the beautiful garden of some amazing rock formations. However, there was very little privacy because a large family seemed to follow us where ever we went. We finally climbed up on this one rock and it was the most beautiful and peaceful place. Dennis got down on one knee and Katrina said yes!