We first met on the day before Valentine’s Day in 2016 while working on a play festival at SCAD. I had already developed a bit of a crush on Leonard (shh!) from seeing him perform in a production of Ragtime. We hardly crossed paths until Leonard was looking for a prop master for a show and managed to trick me with his siren-like charisma into working for him. Through that, we (and our wonderful friend and bridesmaid Mikaela) became good friends. Leonard was very close to graduation, so we spent a good part of his free time together making fried chicken runs and watching YouTube videos of poorly done musicals. Leonard even unknowingly met his future mother-in-law! As we became closer friends, I started to recognize so much in Leonard that I wanted in a future partner. After graduation, we had very little time to figure out if this was something we could make work considering I had two more years of school left before we could possibly live in the same city (shout out to FaceTime, I love you). We quickly figured out how great we work as a couple, and the rest is history!

The character count won't allow me to tell you the full story. I reached 2000/2000 characters. I knew that Claire was my person after a couple weeks of dating. Our chemistry cannot be matched, and we make each other far better and happier people. In March of 2017, I met up with Claire's father in a bar in New York where he gave his blessing, although I had not yet asked for it. Those of you who know him well know that Mike Brady does not waste time! I decided that I was going to propose on our trip to Hong Kong in March of 2019. Claire and her whole family were coming to watch my family's annual Cantonese Opera performance, since Claire’s dad was going to be performing in the show with us. One of the places that Claire wanted to go to was The Peak, so I decided that was where I was going to do it. As the days to our trip grew closer, Claire's curiosity rose. I knew she was onto me. To throw her off her tracks, I told her the entire plan, but that it was not going to happen, because I “was not going to be able to pick up the ring in time”. When we arrived in HK, I had one day to prepare. I was able to get my brother Lawrence to come and take pictures and some other friends to participate in the event. We arrived at The Peak and walked along the main path. The weather cleared and we were able to see the sunset. I knew this was the moment it needed to happen. I grabbed Claire’s hands, looked into her eyes and asked, "Are you ready?". She didn't believe what was happening, because in her mind, she thought the plan fell through. We were both in shock to the point that I completely forgot what I was going to say. After frisking me for a ring out of suspicion and disbelief, I asked her to marry me with her grandmother's ring, and we celebrated with friends as the sun set. Not until I re-proposed with my planned speech the following day did I get to ask her to accept me as her final Rose (yes, we watch the Bachelor, and no, we’re not going to apologize to you for it).