Folks, it was rough times in the ol' Jesco's life. Recently returned from a two year journey to Montana and back living above my parent's garage (thanks again, y'all!), it felt like my wheels were spinning. In an attempt to "get back out there" I downloaded a dating app. Frankly, I felt a bit out of my element. If you know me, you know my technological capabilities are somewhere between suburban dad and senior citizen. Nevertheless, I resolved to march forward -- I bought a house, adopted a dog, and began to involve myself back in small-town life -- though I had no idea this frontward march would end so well. While visiting my sister (the cooler Fries sibling) in Louisville I matched with Krissy. Funny, smart, beautiful, and adventurous enough to move to Jackson?! I knew my life had changed for the better, but I had no idea by how much. Unfortunately, my timing seemed JUST off... Krissy was to return to Harvard to continue her education. Despite her return to Boston, I couldn't keep Krissy off my mind. During the month she was in Boston we talked frequently -- spending 4 hours at a time regaling each other with our life stories, laughing, and diving deep into our philosophies on life. In May 2017, upon Krissy's return to Kentucky, I couldn't wait to meet her. We met that day for drinks, pizza, and ice cream -- laughing and spending time as if we had known each other for years. That day, I knew I had met a special person. I'm now delighted to call that person the love of my life.

In May 2016, I embarked on fieldwork for my PhD. I picked a very poor county on the map, found an apartment to sublet, and (literally) ran for the hills. I set out to find a dissertation topic; I did, but more importantly, and as trite as it sounds, I found myself. By summer’s end, Kentucky had wedged itself into my heart. That August, I returned to Boston to finish coursework, but I knew I would be back. Flash forward to April 2017: I had finished my requirements at Harvard, and I could leave Boston if I wished. I deeply wanted to relocate to Kentucky for the remainder of my PhD, so that I could do the kind of embedded research I believed in. Yet, the idea of living semi-permanently in a 2000 person town, 90 miles from the nearest city, also terrified me. I worried that I would be "wasting my 20s" and that I would "probably be single for years." But, I followed my heart and made plans to move. That month, I flew to Louisville to visit my friend, Elaine. One night, I figured, "Hey, might as well open that dating app and see what's around." Sure, Louisville was 2.5 hours away from my future home in KY, but it was worth a look. I matched with Jesse; he looked like a pretty cool dude, but I wasn't even living in Kentucky yet. "This was just an experiment!" I said. I flew back to Boston, but we exchanged numbers. For the next month, we texted a lot, and I giggled a lot, and we shared one 4-hour phone call that completely erased my fears of moving. I knew from that one phone call that Jesse embodied every single thing I wanted in a life partner. I told my friend Liz, "I'm moving to Kentucky, and I'm going to find a Jesse." In May, Liz drove with me to Kentucky, and as soon as I dropped her off at the airport, I arranged to meet Jesse in person. I was a bit fearful that he would be odd-looking, because certainly he couldn’t be smart and kind and witty and ambitious *and* handsome. Well, my fear was totally unfounded. We hit it off, and the rest is history.

We had traveled far from home. In Vermont we had encountered friends (old and new), toured local microbreweries, and participated in my five year law school reunion. Krissy was led to believe our journey to Canada was a quest for poutine, Quebecois culture, and exploration of a new place -- little did she know we had crossed international borders so that I could finally ask her to marry me. The plan was all in motion. The appropriate blessings given by both sets of families, the ring hidden (though not TOO hidden), and an adventure afoot. Knowing that Mike and Debbie had spent their honeymoon in Quebec City at Le Chateau Frontenac, I intended to walk along the river and ever so smoothly drop to one knee and propose. If I was feeling particularly confident I even had Tyler Childers "Lady May" ready to play on my phone -- a song Krissy and I had modified to suit her own name. Of course, the best laid plans of man are always open to going completely off the rails! The vacant riverfront I intended to propose on was instead a tourist haven -- packed to the rafters and bustling with vendors. I panicked! The ring suddenly felt like a weight in my pocket -- and I was suddenly Samwise Gamgee (the hero of Lord of the Rings, by the way) trying to figure out a new plan. Knowing both that I so desperately wanted to ask, but also wanting the moment to be between us -- and not 1500 strangers, I asked Krissy to walk up the hill behind the Chateau to look out over the river. My confidence shot, but my resolution strong, I spoke the following romantic words: "So, um, I have a question for you. Will you, uh, marry me?" Mercifully, the love of my life said, "Well, duh!" As with so many adventures it wasn't exactly as planned, but we were together -- in love, adventuring through this life together. Thankfully, that journey now continues forever.

When I last left you all, Jesse and I had just met. The way I tell the story, I pursued Jesse. He claims the opposite. As I like to remind Jesse, 1) I scheduled our first date, 2) I prompted us to "define the relationship," 3) I said "I love you" first, and 4) I asked to move in, when I was struggling with loneliness while living 2 hours away. But the next relationship step, I certainly was not going to take myself. My mom raised me on chickflicks. You see, I was bound to have fantasies of the perfect proposal - of being in a romantic setting, of the man I love getting down on one knee and making declarations of his love for me, of birds singing in the trees and butterflies suddenly appearing all around us and angels descending from heaven. OK, I'm totally exaggerating, but you get the point. By summer of this year, I knew a proposal might be happening soon - I do collect and analyze data for a living, after all. But, I had guessed it might happen on a few occasions so far, and I had been wrong each time. We planned a trip to Canada, and I again had a feeling, but I didn't want to get my hopes up again. My mom came to Somerset to watch our dogs, and she brought an old photo album of her honeymoon with my dad. Those photos literally made me laugh out loud. Apparently my parents were total goobers?! Guess I'm more similar to them than I'd thought :) They had been to Quebec City and Montreal, where we were heading, and Jesse and I chose some landmarks from their photos which we should see. My mom told us they had particularly loved the castle on the river: Le Chateau Frontenac. When we arrived in Quebec City, Jesse was not acting himself. We walked to the historic Old City from our AirBnB, and I could tell, from his nervousness, that the moment was coming. Jesse was flustered, he forgot to get down on one knee, and he could barely get even the main question out. But the moment was perfect in every way. It was beautiful and extravagant, but it was also us.