We met in the summer of 2018, our introduction brokered by modern means but anchored in antiquity. At the time of our first date, we had both abandoned the digital dating arena and its seemingly barren landscape of prospects. Fortune came in the form of a mutual admiration for neighborhood pubs and a commitment to see our proposed plans through. It was only hours before our first date that I had just moved into my new apartment in Cambridge. I was exhausted and rescued only by the foresight to unpack toiletries and set up my new bathroom before anything else - sweating and covered in moving box dust was not how I wanted to make a first impression. We met at Sligo, an Irish Pub in Davis Square that closed last winter much to our dismay. It was there at the bar with pints in hand and the glow of refracted sunlight on our shoulders that we discovered each other. We both loved running and talked of our upcoming races. We shared a love for great food and great beer that for Kylie transcended to her professional life. Revelations we came nowhere close to touching in our preliminary texts surfaced in person and filled our hearts with an inexplicable resolve. We departed early that evening each with closely guarded sentiments: mine, a fear our meeting could be lost to the whims of fate, and Kylie, one of willful certainty. Fortunately, it wasn't a chance encounter. A week later we met for a second date at Bukowski's in Back Bay. Thus began a long tradition of exploring Boston's pubs and breweries, and defining our time together by trying new experiences yet always recharging our souls with beloved staples. Trina's Starlite Lounge, Cambridge Common, Notch Speedway, The Burren, Buk's, Paddy's, as well as the departed Christopher's and Sligo are but a handful of the places that dot the map of our history together. For four years, Boston was the backdrop of our burgeoning love story. When we moved to Vermont in 2022, we embraced the need to redesign our home life, but it was not without a sense of gratitude for the romance our former city provided. And yes, our lives were called for evolution as all successful love stories are. Having weathered job changes, illnesses and all manner of romantic obstacles, we made arguably the biggest leap any couple can when we bought our home together two years ago. Bigger than our upcoming nuptials? According to the bank, yes. It's been six years since our first date at Sligo's. Since then Kylie's certainty of us has never wavered. And underneath my embattled armor is a similar faith that is perhaps manifested by hers. It spurned me to realize what I suppose I always knew was inevitable. On October 6, I asked her to marry me and she said yes. The culmination of this story is it can never be put to words, not in any adequate way. The only thing we can do is celebrate it. Which on June 21 in Portland, Maine, we hope you will join us in doing. Love, T&K