My friend, Lisa, was celebrating her 40th birthday and I took her out for dinner in the Bishop Arts District in Dallas. After dinner, I suggested we go to Nova because I heard it was a local hangout. We walked in and sat at the bar. Lisa sat between Harrison and me. He was there with his laptop reading the Wall Street Journal. Lisa leaned back to read over his shoulder. Harrison noticed this and offered to move his laptop for her to read better. This started a conversation between the three of us. When his dinner arrived, I said, “It is not healthy to eat after 7p.” He just smiled. He offered to buy us drinks, and I ordered a Pimms Cup. As Lisa and I left, Harrison took Lisa’s and my photo and we all exchanged business cards. He did reach out a day or so later via text saying it was nice to see me. Two weeks later he asked me to lunch. Lisa encouraged me to meet him so I did, at the Potpourri of Silk tearoom in Bishop Arts. Terrific venue but at this second meeting I was Not impressed with Mr. Wall St Journal. Two weeks later he reached out and asked for a Happy Hour meetup. Everyone deserves a second chance, so I met him at craft cocktail bar Jettison, where he was about 15 minutes late and blamed it on the Lyft driver. After a couple of drinks, I said I needed to eat. He suggested Nova. I thought, why not. This is when Harrison grabbed my attention. He asked to hold my hand, and I said Yes. Then he asked to kiss me – surprised, I did ask, “Here? At the bar?” He said “Yes”. And I said Yes. We closed the restaurant (something I hadn't done in ages!), which means that was a 10-hour date! Three weeks went by, and then he invited me to his house for some pool time. He said that he wanted to show me his favorite art piece. We walked, turned a corner – and there stood a 6-foot tall, solid wood, painted circus clown from the 1890s! I loved it! This was the first time I had met an adult who loved clowns too. I told him this is fantastic. He smiled and said, “Really – then will you marry me?” I said “No but I will take a refill of my drink” and we kissed. This was the moment when I said to myself, “I do”. He asked, “Are you okay, you have a funny look on your face”. I smiled and said I was good. Now the journey became that I had to get Harrison to realize that I was His Her!

Kelly and I had taken a couple of trips in the second half of 2021 that - as it turned out - were qualified in her view as having been "engagement worthy". No proposal ensued. As 2022 began to unfold I surmised that Kelly was perturbed. I began to expect that at any moment I'd be handed a booklet with a title along the line of "How to Spend Your Life with Someone -- For Dummies". Immediate and decisive action was called for, so I sprang into action! Losing no more time at all, I . . . suggested we begin talking about a ring. Puzzled by her somewhat, shall I say, uncivil reaction to that, my fallback was to suggest talking about a ring while actually in the presence of a jeweler. Now that's decisive action, right? We'd have to get dressed and go out and everything. To take the optimistic view, one would have to say that her enthusiasm about our relationship didn't noticeably improve at that moment. Undeterred, the ring excursion proceeded. It did seem to me that being in an actual jewelry store was beginning to lessen her doubts that my existence was adding anything to her quality of life. My plan was working! After an excursion to several shops in greater D.C. we found our way to a jeweler in Dallas who does custom work. After showing us - make that showing Kelly - some showroom examples (while I safely kept two paces behind and one to the right of her) the jeweler said "Let's go sit down at my desk". Now, that just isn't what a guy wants to hear a jeweler say. It's sort of the equivalent of being at a Ferarri dealership and the salesman says "C'mon, let's lose the everyday stuff -- let me show you what I have in the back . . .". Sitting at his desk in a blaze of halogen lighting, gemstones began to appear with frightening speed, drawings were created, and decisions were made. And all of this transpired in some foreign language that I'm confident no linguist has ever documented and which is only spoken by jewelers and perturbed brides-waiting-to-be. Well, we ended up with an absolutely lovely ring that Kelly adores (documented nearby). I scheduled a third engagement-worthy trip, this time to a picturesque resort property in the foothills of West Virginia - The Greenbrier, in White Sulphur Springs. The town was founded when a sulphur-infused hot spring was discovered, which is active to this day and sheltered by a springhouse on Greenbrier property. I conspired with a photographer, booked a horse & carriage ride, and proposed in the springhouse. Mercifully she didn't make me pay any additional price for my prior misdoings, and said yes. And now, on to happily ever after! I said I was going to take decisive action, right?

My sister is a creative gift giver. For Christmas in 2020 she sent Harrison and me off to go Walking with Llamas at a ranch east of Dallas. Then in 2021, we each received title to a square foot of land in Scotland situated such that we became of royal lineage. Therefore, we are now properly referred to by our subjects as Lord Price and Lady Longfellow! https://www.highlandtitles.com/become-a-lord.