Riley and I have been best friends since the fall of 2015. We first met when I was a freshman trying out for the Roger Williams sailing team. Riley was going into his junior year, and our coach Amanda assigned him to sail with me on the first day of tryouts. Though I was nervous, Riley made me feel right at home and we quickly learned that we had a lot in common. After becoming fast friends that first day, Riley and I spent a lot of time together during his last two years at RWU. We sailed together, socialized together, and sometimes even took classes together. After Riley graduated in 2017, he stuck around the East Coast looking for work and wound up at my childhood yacht club, Stage Harbor. That summer we spent the most time we ever had together — eating, working, running (against my will), socializing, and getting ready for the next stage of our lives. My path was taking me abroad to Bermuda, and his was taking him back home to Michigan. Although the numbers were never going to make sense, we couldn’t deny our feelings for each other after the summer ended. So, even though he was 700 miles west and I was on the East Coast, we made the distance work (special thanks to technology for getting us through that rough time). When I came home from Bermuda, Riley moved to Rhode Island and we started dating. We spent the next five years together having the most amazing experiences: from skiing around the country to sailing on the Cape, and always surrounded by friends and family. Along the way we moved in together, which has been and will continue to be a learning process! Riley proposed in Chatham — one of my favorite places in the world and also the place where we plan on getting married. All of our closest friends and family were there to celebrate with us and witness our special moment. I love Riley immensely, and we are both very excited to continue our story and spend the rest of our lives together. We are eager to share our special day with you and we hope you can join us!