We met at Schooners Inn on Fire Island during Memorial Day weekend. I was at the bar with some buddies when a cool, tall, blonde introduced herself to me with a firm handshake. I was quite taken back, yet continued with some small talk. If you know me, small talk is not one of my strengths. Despite my attempts to keep her around she was whisked away by one of her friends, not to be seen again. Fate would have it the next weekend as I strolled into a little boutique restaurant called Farrells. There she was introducing herself and handing out menus to our table. I must have been a nightmare customer because any chance I had I'd call her over to place orders just to get her back to the table to talk. Every bar has a last call and I knew this was my moment. So me being a silver-tongued devil I decided to pen "My love Lauren" along with my number on the bill. That always works, right? As I slunk out of the bar waiting for my ride, Nature called. Walking back in I saw Lauren inspecting the bill while giggling. I said, "You better text me." She replied, "If you're lucky! Thank god I'm Irish, because 5 years later and I'm with the woman of my dreams.

After meeting and texting briefly, Patrick asked me to meet up and get some drinks. The first date was great, despite Lauren being extremely hungover. We chatted about what we like to do, and what we wanted to do, conversation flowed so easily, I never would've known Patrick is not much of a talker to most people. We parted ways, but soon after we were texting about the fun we had, already planning a second date. Our second date went so well, we decided right then and there to buy tickets to see a Yankee game together. We continued to talk leading up to the game, I had typical pre-date nerves, whereas Lauren started second guessing due to the fact that this was going to be a very long date, there was lunch, then a train ride, followed by a subway ride, then the game and then more subway rides and another train ride. Luckily, this was the date that sealed our fate. We continued to go on dates for just a few weeks. We hung out with mutual friends and began introducing one another to other friends, and even our families. Lauren had a big summer planned, she was going on her annual family trip for 10 days, followed by two weeks in Spain. It was supposed to be my "Hot Girl Summer" ! Before my travels, my college friends came to visit, so of course, we had to visit Boardy Barn. I invited Patrick to come along, which he did, despite not knowing any of the people I was going with. We were having a great time, lots of smiles, drinks, dancing and stickers. What better time to ask someone to be your girlfriend than being in a circus tent soaked in rain and beer?!

Patrick had told me he wanted to marry me after just a few short months of dating, and I thought he was crazy, but at the same time I knew I wanted to marry him as well. Then, about a month later, we were coming home from a family party with my mom and dad, as we dropped Patrick off at his home, my mom turned to me and said, "He's the one, you are going to marry him." I was so surprised because it was so early in our relationship, but I replied, "I know." Fast Forward amost 2 years, we are looking for houses and truly talking about getting engaged and married. We agreed we wanted to own our own home before getting married, not because we needed to live together before knowing we wanted to be together forever, but because we wanted to build a home to go back to after getting married. It took almost two years of looking and putting offers in (thanks, covid!) that I was about done with our agreement, I wanted to take a next step and was ready to rent or get a ring!! Patrick reminded me of our goals and insisted that we wait for a house, and constantly told me that our engagement would be in the summer. Patrick had been on shift where we didn't get many weekends together, so when he did we made a point to make the most of it with quality time and weekend trips. We had planned a long weekend in Montauk, it was November. I thought absolutely nothing of it, he had convinced me time and time again that there was zero chance of a proposal in any other season. Night one in Montauk, we had a few drinks and I start questioning our plan of waiting for a house, Patrick maintained his "stance," little did I know... We wake up the next morning and Patrick was acting completely normal. We decide to take a little walk to Camp Hero, which we do every time we visit Montauk. Looking back on our way there Patrick started to act a little strange, for example forgot cash to pay the toll for Camp Hero and was not happy we had to turn around to get some, put his arm around me when I tried to hug him to keep me from feeling the ring box in the chest pocket of his jacket, but in the moment I didn't realize why... Patrick's first plan was to go to the Montauket for sunset, but then he realized, he couldn't wait and wanted us to be able to celebrate all day into the night. His second plan was to propose at the Bluffs of Camp Hero, but then there were people there, so we trekked through an overgrown path to get to the beach below the Bluffs, twigs getting caught in my hair, and shoes getting muddy. We start strolling the beach together looking for unique rocks when Patrick says, "Hey, look at this rock I found!" and when I turn around to see, he is on one knee. My first words were, "shut up," followed by "is this real?!" We laughed, we cried, and finally I said "YES!"