We're Getting Married!

On Liesl's first day at Roanoke College, she was hurrying across campus on her way to her very first rehearsal with the Roanoke College Choir. A few paces ahead of her was a guy. He reached the door to Olin Hall first and held it open for her. When Liesl looked up to say thank you, she was taken aback by how attractive she found him, and she sent up a prayer that this young man was also going to choir rehearsal. It turned out that he was, in fact, on his way to rehearsal. Needless to say, that young man was Bert. He remembers nothing of this meeting, but Liesl remembers every second of it.

Since their initial meeting, Bert and Liesl didn't interact very much that year apart from the occasional hello in choir. When classes started up again in the fall of 2011, Liesl was determined to become Bert's friend (in the hopes that maybe someday, they might start dating). After an awkward moment where Liesl realized Bert did not know how to correctly pronounce her name, they began having dinner together occasionally after choir, watching "Epic Rap Battles of History" videos on YouTube. In early November 2011, the choir took its annual dinner out to the Homeplace Restaurant. Liesl rode in Bert's car with two of her other friends, and they got lost on their way to the restaurant. As they navigated their way through the mountains, Bert casually asked if anyone was going to the President's Ball (an annual fancy celebration at the college) and suggested meeting up at the dance. Liesl took the suggestion to heart, and the following evening as she was getting ready, talked with him on Facebook to see if he was going. He told her he wasn't feeling well, so he probably wouldn't be. Liesl let him know where she'd be so that he could find her if he changed his mind. Bert had realized by this point that Liesl had a bit of a crush on him and wanted to see where it would go, so he went to the dance to find her. They danced a bit (neither of them are big on dancing) and listened to live music, where Bert asked Liesl whether she was interested in dating. Unfortunately, the party ended then, so they went out to IHOP with Liesl's friends. On the way back to campus, Bert asked again if Liesl was interested in going out, which of course, she was. When they arrived at her dorm, Bert said he'd call her the next day, and they had their first good-night kiss. He did call her the next day -- they had dinner at the local restaurant Macado's, and watched "Hot Fuzz" on DVD. And the rest is history!

On December 1st, 2018, the brand new Brambleton Library opened in Loudoun County, Virginia. Bert told Liesl he would come over that evening after she finished at work so he could make her dinner after what was sure to be a long and hectic opening day. By this point he had already bought the ring and told her father David and her brother Dieter that he was going to propose. Before the opening, Bert asked Liesl if she was ready for opening day. She replied that she felt ready, she was just nervous that a patron would ask a question that she wouldn't know how to answer right away. Luckily, opening day went smoothly for Liesl and she arrived back at her home to discover that Bert had cooked dinner, lit candles, and bought her flowers. As they sat down to eat he asked her how opening day had gone and if there had been any questions she couldn't answer. She said no -- she had been able to answer them all. Bert then said, "Good. Because now I have a question." He got up from his seat, walked to Liesl's side of the table, and got down on one knee. He pulled out a ring box, told Liesl he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and asked her to marry him. And she very happily said, "Yes!"