Technically we first became friends at a New Years party on the eastern Virginian shore in December 2017, but as it so often goes with love stories, ours began weaving together well before then. And, it would take some time before we figured out that we were meant to be more than friends. Rewinding a bit: all of Kelsey's best high school friends wound up going to the same little Virginian liberal arts college, the University of Mary Washington, which Quinn, a born-and-bred Marylander, also attended. Kelsey would often visit UMW during her own school breaks, becoming pals with her friends' widening circle, and, along with best friend (and now, wedding officiant) Andrew, eventually scoring an invite to the New Years party that set everything in motion. From 2017-onward, Kelsey, living in Brooklyn at the time, and Quinn, bouncing around DC and Maryland, didn't cross paths much aside from reuniting for this now-annual NYE party tradition. Still, thanks to a ton of shared interests and a shared worldview, our friendship kept deepening. Fast forward to the harrowing era of early COVID, whereupon both of us temporarily relocated to quarantine with our families. Along with our bestie Miriam, we began going on "standing Saturday walks" to mitigate our collective anxiety and lethal boredom. Miriam joined these walks less and less, and who knows what or how, but something between Quinn and Kelsey began to shift. Finally, one fateful evening in April 2021, Quinn famously made the first move by asking Kelsey: "so what's going on with us?" That was almost five years ago, and it's hard to describe how explosively joyful life has been since then. We've fallen in love with each other's friends and families, with each other's pasts, and with each other, over and over, every day.

In classic queer fashion, Kelsey knew from the start of us dating that she'd marry Quinn one day. Admittedly she sometimes found it difficult to be patient (sorry Quinn), but she finally got to ask the most important question of her life when she proposed to Quinn on 7.3.24. Here's how: Kelsey had spent the previous ten months typewriting (yes, on a typewriter!) over 1,500 song lyrics, poems, early text exchanges, and other 'fragments' of our love story. One early July weekend, Quinn stayed at her sister Bridget's place so they could go to a concert, not knowing that Kelsey and Bridget had spent months secretly coordinating to find the perfect excuse to get Quinn out of the house long enough for Kelsey to tape all 1,500 scraps of paper all over every wall of our home. Continuing the typewritten letter theme, Kelsey placed the ring (custom-made by a local queer jeweler) in a tiny brown envelope, sealed with a new, custom Quinn + Kelsey wax stamp. Finally, Kelsey had hired an awesome local photographer to capture the moment. All that was left to do was pick Quinn up from the bus station and keep a straight face for the 10 minute ride home. Despite having completely sweated through all of her clothing, Kelsey somehow played it cool just long enough for Quinn to realize that the woman parked in front of the house holding a giant camera lens might not be the contractor that Kelsey had previously mentioned. Suffice it to say, the surprise was a smashing success, lots of tears were shed & hugs exchanged, and Quinn said yes. But this is only half of our proposal story! Turns out Quinn had something pretty similar in the works – she had been secretly planning with Bridget and Bridget's partner Will, both professional musicians, to set up a makeshift recording studio in their NYC apartment. They recorded Quinn singing a cover of one of our early relationship songs ("Graceland Too" by Phoebe Bridgers) which Quinn then used as the backdrop for a video montage of our relationship – a collection of VISUAL fragments of our story. One night, Quinn, having hidden Kelsey's ring (originally her great-grandmother's, which fit perfectly) in a nearby slipper, put a fire on and suggested a movie, instead putting the surprise proposal video up on the big screen at home. For the record, Kelsey also said yes. (Also, in a nutshell, Bridget is the real MVP here! Thank you / sorry Bridget!!) This next chapter – all the new 'fragments' to come – will be the best yet. We're so incredibly excited and grateful to be able to share it with you.