Our story is one born from the unprecedented times we faced over the last few years. We grew up just 15 minutes apart, attended the same high school, ran with similar groups, and even had the occasional “run-in” during our formative years. That said, it had been years since we’d seen each other when COVID hit. On June 1, 2020, we both found ourselves back in Chicago. Kelly was back after spending eleven weeks quarantining in Vero Beach with her family at the start of COVID. I was back in Chicago working from home following a father-son fishing trip. That night, our mutual friends, Jackie and Seth Thompson, invited a few friends over for a casual, COVID-safe hangout in the backyard. As Kelly likes to say, later that night she mentioned to Jackie that she had “forgotten about how good of a guy James Clark was.” Days later – the same friends hosted a larger (but still COVID safe) barbecue in the backyard. While a friend not to be named here was trying to set me up with a third party – Kelly had other plans. As she likes to tell it, this friend, let’s call her Jackie, kept talking to me about getting together with her other friend. Annoyed, Kelly did what any reasonable person would do, she turned to alcohol. After a healthy infusion of spiked seltzer, Kelly decided to take matters into her own hands. Towards the end of the night the two of us ended up on the porch together. Kelly shot her shot. Before you knew it – and despite my insistence I wasn’t interested in dating – we had a date scheduled for the following Monday. That week we went on dates Monday, Tuesday, and Friday before I had to head back to DC. A month later, Kelly came to visit for the 4th of July. From there – we couldn’t stay apart. Kelly spent weeks at a time visiting DC. She and I grew closer. She became a part of our group. She was there to help me through getting furloughed. If I needed someone – she was there. We moved to Florida. We spent time with her incredible family in Vero. It became clear that it was only a matter of time before I asked her to marry me. That time came just before we moved to Dallas. After a lot of convincing – and potentially some fibbing – I convinced her to take a quick detour to Chicago before driving to Dallas under the guise of seeing my sisters. While I love my family very much – that was not the purpose of the trip. Months prior, and without Kelly’s knowledge, I’d asked her parents for their approval at Northfield Restaurant. I’d bought a ring with the help of our Boca Raton family (shout out Beth Garrod). Our families and our wonderful friends had helped set up a surprise engagement party. More than 50 people were in on the secret (sorry Nick). On Tuesday, March 22, 2022, Kel and I visited a particularly special spot for the Clark family – Gillson Park. On the same beach where my Dad had proposed to my Mom many years ago – it was my turn to shoot my shot. Thankfully, she said yes.