In the Summer of 2017 began a series of seeing each other from afar, but comically just missing one another, like ships that pass in the night. A few months later, David and Marion’s mutual friend, Sarah, told David about her attractive. redhead roommate who was smart, cool, and really funny. As though that list of admirable attributes wasn’t enough to capture David’s rapt attention (they were), Sarah casually, (not-so-) subtly added, “And she would date you in a heartbeat.” Shortly after, David, via Sarah, tried to invite Marion to a Friendsgiving party so that they could meet. Alas, Marion’s family had absconded with her to an out of town family Thanksgiving week. While David was scheming as to how to meet her or get her phone number, Marion decided to make things easy for David and had Sarah give him her phone number. Three days later, they went on their first date. To say it went swimmingly would be an understatement. Sure, David was a bit awkward at times, but Marion would discover that’s just part of his charm. A week later, shortly before arriving at a Christmas party, David nervously asked if she wanted to be official boyfriend-and-girlfriend. Without hesitation, she answered. "Yes." Calmly, decisively, matter-of-factly, as though there was no other answer.
David knew he wanted to surprise Marion, a formidable feat, considering her keen mind and attention to detail. Through a combination of subterfuge and surreptitious planning (and the help of several trusted co-conspirators), David fed Marion false hints that March 2nd was when he was proposing to . . . well, propose. Two weekends earlier, under the pretense of going on a Valentine’s Day Date, David asked Marion if she would be alright with dropping by their friend’s house to pick up something. After arriving at their friend’s suspiciously empty and decorated house, David, still maintaining the Valentine’s Day pretense, asked Marion to take a seat and announced “Now is the time for the Giving of Gifts. One song, a poem, and one letter later, David pretended to fumble around the pages of his letter, as though a page were missing. “Hold on, I think I left it in my guitar case.” Seconds later, he turned around with a small box in his hand, and knelt before an astonished Marion, only now realizing what was going on. “Marion, I want you to be my Forever Girl. I want you to be my wife. But before that can happen, I must ask you one very important question. Marion Renee, will you-“ “YES!” she exulted, through tears and a thousand smiles, as though there was no other answer.