Our story began during the first year of medical school in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a place that now has become not only the place where Michael Scott burned his foot on a George Forman grill and ran over Meredith in the Dunder Mifflin parking lot, but also the place where I met the love of my life. Antonio fondly remembers one of our first conversations discussing hummus over lunch in our school’s café. After such an exciting start to our relationship, we finally exchanged numbers on January 23rd. This date happens to be Antonio’s birthday, which is 20 days after my own birthday, making me the older woman. He first asked me out on Valentine’s Day, which is also my sister Erin’s birthday. I thought this was a bit bold at the time. We spent the romantic holiday watching a Valentine’s Day classic, Mean Girls. Things developed, and on May 6th, which happens to be my dad’s birthday, I was able to trick him into asking me to go steady. I swear Antonio had all of these major milestones for our relationship planned to occur on important birth dates. A month later, Antonio came to Pittsburgh for the first time where we went to dinner on Mount Washington (later to be the spot where he proposed). Shortly thereafter, I was able to meet his family in Lancaster. Surprisingly, neither of these meetings occurred on family member’s birthday. After over three years in medical school, Antonio and I went through the process the medical folk call The Match. After many ups and downs, we both ended up at the programs we wanted to be, and more importantly with each other.

I knew I wanted to propose intern year, thank goodness for elective rotations during my Transitional Year residency. I had one that allowed for a lot of spare time during November, the month leading up to Christmas, and a pretty perfect time to propose. I first approached Kelley’s parents about proposing when they were visiting for Thanksgiving. I decided to do it right before their annual Christmas party where her family and friends would be. I also knew I wanted to propose on Mount Washington, the location where I first went to dinner with Kelley and her family in Pittsburgh. It also didn’t hurt that it’s a very picturesque setting. I reached out to one of Kelley’s best friends from Pittsburgh, Ellen, who selflessly helped me plan. With the help of her and Sara, they invited Kelley to brunch the Saturday morning before the Christmas party. Being a good daughter, Kelley did not want to abandon her necessary chores and shopping prior to the party. After getting her mom involved, Kelley finally agreed to attend the proposal brunch. Ellen picked us up for brunch and drove us up to Mount Washington. After getting her picture taken with her two friends, Kelley and I then got our picture taken together. With Sara taking pictures and Ellen recording a video, I proposed to the most surprised woman in the world at that moment.