Nate first saw Lauren in 2004 at a high school party. Lauren was a sophomore at Pilgrim, and Nate was a senior at Vets. Somehow they ended up at the same party, and Nate couldn’t stop looking at her. In his mind she was the perfect girl he had always imagined. That being said, he never worked up the courage to go talk to her that night–something he would regret for the next two years. Fast forward to Lauren’s first year of college at CCRI. One day Nate walked into the cafeteria and saw a friend from high school sitting at a table with her. Nate wasn’t about to miss his opportunity again. He walked right over, sat down, and finally got introduced. For the first time he learned her name: Lauren Menna. She was just as beautiful as he remembered. (Luckily for Nate, Lauren really liked his face… and his 6'5" stature probably didn’t hurt either). They started dating in September of 2007. Lauren was Nate’s first love. Like a lot of young relationships, theirs had a chapter that ended a little sooner than expected. In the summer of 2008, Lauren broke up with Nate at a party while they were sitting together on a porch swing (which, looking back, is probably one of the more poetic ways to get dumped). After that, life happened. They both went their separate ways, lived a lot of life, went through ups and downs, and slowly grew into the people they are today. Fifteen years later, fate–and the internet–stepped in. As a lifelong Jets fan, Nate was paying very close attention when Aaron Rodgers signed with the Jets in 2023. Around that time Lauren made a snarky post about the signing on her Instagram story (she still stands by the fact that the Aaron signing was an epic fail). Naturally, Nate felt obligated to comment. She messaged him back, and before long they were talking again like no time had passed. Not long after that, Lauren mentioned one day that she was at Brewed Awakenings enjoying her ALONE time with a coffee and a book. So, Nate did what any determined guy would do–he invited himself. He wasn’t letting her get away again. That coffee eventually turned into something much bigger...an apartment, a blended family, and as of May 30, 2025–their first house together! On September 20, 2025, Nate proposed to Lauren at their favorite spot, Beavertail. Nearly twenty years after the first time he saw her across a crowded high school party, Nate finally asked the girl he couldn’t stop looking at to marry him (she said yes!). As it turns out, not all love stories are linear. Sometimes, the best ones take time, a little growing up, a well-timed Jets post, and one determined coffee invitation. But in the end, Nate finally got his dream girl and Lauren finally got her handsome, lifelong best friend–exactly the way it was meant to happen.