In August of 2019, Maleah moved to downtown Ridgefield to begin teaching that fall at Woodland High School. Since she was new to the area and didn’t know anyone she thought she might be able to meet some people at the CrossFit gym just across the highway. Having never done CrossFit and fully prepared to die, Maleah signed up and soon after met Chris at one of the afternoon classes. Since she was not only new to the area and new to CrossFit, Chris had a lot of knowledge and info that he could share with her to help acclimate her to a new sport and the ins and outs of the local community. It wasn’t long after starting to attend the gym that Maleah noticed Chris’s willingness to help her and chat with her after a long day. About three weeks into going to the gym, Maleah finally found the courage to ask him to go to the local Oktoberfest through a DM on Instagram. She meant to ask him in person, but the day she had finally decided to ask he wasn’t there and was “taking a rest day.” Chris left her on “read” for over 24 hours and Maleah sweat through the 24 hours looking for a new gym to go to. He eventually responded and said he’d “definitely like to go.”

I asked Chris out the Wednesday before Oktoberfest (a Saturday) after having chickened out 4-5 times in person. When the day finally came, I saw him at the gym the morning. We didn't talk really much at all and waited until the end of the class to confirm that we would be meeting at the event. I went home after the gym and actually washed my hair and tried on about 12 different outfits before landing on black jeans, a green tank top, and some strappy sandals (or "Jerusalem runners" as Chris calls them). I drove to the Ridgefield ballparks where the event was happening, parked, checked my face in my mirror, and walked to the entrance of the event. I texted Chris that I was “here,” waited by the entrance and checked to make sure I was wearing deodorant because I was already sweating. Chris parked his truck and walked up wearing a green shirt (which is now my favorite one to steal). Chris paid to get us in and for our drink tokens, we got a couple of beers and sat down to chat. Chris downed his beer out of nerves, while I sipped on mine trying to calm my nerves. We sat and talked for hours, screaming over an Oompah band blaring in front of us. When my voice was exhausted, I asked him if he wanted to go somewhere else. We ended up at Sportsmans, a bar across the street from my apartment. We had a beer and I said "if they start singing karaoke we're leaving. I have to have a voice to teach on Monday." a few minutes later, people were singing, out of tune country songs and I said "we're leaving." We went to my apartment where I knew I had sweet potato fries. We ate fries and talked, watched a movie, talked some more and about 7 hours into our date Chris kissed me while we were half invested watching a movie. We hung out for about two more hours until Chris finally said “I’ve got to get home to my dog.” Both Chris and I felt like the date was a success and went better than we were expecting. We also agreed that there was something about it that felt different but in a good way.

Going to a CrossFit gym on Memorial Day is a dangerous endeavor because chances are that the coach has programmed a workout called “Murph.” Murph is a Hero WOD named after a fallen soldier Lt. Michael P. Murphy a Navy Seal who died in combat in Afghanistan. Murph, the workout, is a 1-mile run, followed by 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, followed by another 1-mile run. This workout is typically done with a 14-20lb vest, similar to the amount of gear that Lt. Michael P. Murphy was wearing at the time of his death. It’s a grueling workout, but you do it because you are honoring a man who died for our country. This workout can take anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour. On May 31, 2021, Chris and I got dressed and made our way to the gym. Mentally preparing ourselves for our inevitable fate of “basically dying” in this workout. At our gym, we start every class with a question of the day, that day's question was “What are you doing for the rest of your day?” We went around the circle introducing ourselves and answering the question. Most people said things like “bbq,” “going to friends,” or going “swimming.” When it got to me I said “Recovering? Trying not to die in this workout? Eat?” having no solid plans in mind, other than hoping to make it through the workout. When it was Chris’s turn he said “I think we’ll be celebrating.” I flipped around, scoffing and confused, and said something like “What are we going to be celebrating?! We’re about to die in this workout!” Right about then Chris dropped to one knee (shaking) and holding a sparkly ring in a wooden box. I legitimately think I blacked out because I don’t remember very well what he said or what happened. I know that I started crying and people around me were going “ooooh” and “awh.” I nodded a lot because I couldn’t really make words. And hugged him. Our friends around us started saying “So is that a yes?!” and I laughed and said “yes!” Everyone at the gym clapped and cheered.

The nerves were insane. I'm almost to this event and realize I haven't been on a date in a very long time. I turned up the music to drown out the thoughts, "Photograph" by Def Leppard, for just in case anybody was wondering, but even with the music up the thoughts were still there. I finally park and walk up to her and all I could think was "oh my god... I need a beer." The nerves were officially getting the best of me. I paid for our tickets, we got our beers and we finally sat down. I think I drank that beer in about 2 minutes. As we were sitting there talking I noticed, she's making this very easy. We're talking and it didn't feel like the awkward "tell me about yourself, where are you from, where did you go to school..." type of conversation. It was like meeting up with an old friend you haven't seen in years and where the conversation picked up right where you last left off as no time had passed at all. We were sitting there, yelling at each other over the super loud oompah band, laughing and sharing stories and our experiences. We finally had enough of the band, but I wasn't ready for the date to be over. When she mentioned going to the bar I didn't even hesitate, I'm in. We got to the bar and started talking more before she said "I swear if they start karaoke, we're going to my apartment." I laughed but I kid you not, 20 min late the mic and speakers came out. I asked where her apartment was and to my surprise, it was right across the street. We got up there and continued talking over sweet potato fries and a drink. At some point, we ended up on the couch watching a movie. When the movie ended and looked at my phone and realized, we'd been on a date for 9 hours. It was like 1 in the morning. I knew this girl was going to be something different in my life.

The day before Memorial Day. I just pulled up to a friend's house where everybody was getting together. Maleah and I drove separately. I start talking to everybody and of course, the question of when I'm proposing comes up. The back story on this is I've had the ring for around 8 months now. I had no idea when or how I was going to pop the big question. I wasn't nervous about asking her, I just wanted it to be right. I wanted it to be done in only a way I would do, a way we would always remember it. Fast forward to my friends asking me about it, they have me thinking. They're telling me to do it that night, "go back home and grab the ring! Do I tonight!" I knew that wouldn't work. Maleah would have driven right past me and instantly called me and asked what was going on. None of my friends would have been able to hold their poker face the entire time it would have taken me to go get the ring, come back, and wait for the moment to get down on one knee. Then my friend brings up an idea, the Memorial Day workout the next day. Soon as that idea came up Maleah came walking through the door. Wasn't till late that night that, laying in bed, I thought "maybe tomorrow wouldn't be that bad of an idea." We wake up the next day and get ready to leave, we were 5 minutes away from leaving, and at the moment I decided to pull the "I'm going to go start the car..." move to sneak the ring out there so she wouldn't notice. This is happening. This is the day. We walk into the gym and I tell my friend Danny to grab his phone and get ready to take pictures. Question of the day: "what are your plans for Memorial Day weekend?" it couldn't be any better. It comes to me and I respond "Probably celebrating." knowing the answer wouldn't make sense to her and she would turn around I got down on one knee. The look on her face at that moment, at that place, was what I wanted. The place where it all started, is the place she said yes to being my best friend for the rest of our lives.