We met on January 7th, 2017. We both had plans to attend a charity event hosted by the Buffalo Sabres called “Casino for a Cause”, a 1920's flapper themed casino night. We were introduced to each other by mutual friends who decided it would be a good idea to get together and have a few drinks before attending the event. So, my friends and I went to this apartment, we knocked on the door and Mike answers. He was dressed in a black suit, wearing a black Irish hat and looking very handsome. Mike immediately welcomed us in and commented on how great we all looked. After Mike made sure his guests were all taken care of, he found me and began making conversation, we hit it off immediately. Once we got to the event, I was enjoying my time with my friends and Mike continued to stay close by. I could tell he wanted to continue talking to me but I kind of let him work for it, lol. Later in the night I broke away from my friends to go look at the silent auction, just a few minutes later Mike was standing next to me inquiring about what I was going to bid on. He teased me about my top picks and gave me his opinion on what he thought was best. After that we continued to talk the whole night, the conversation was effortless, and we had so much fun together. Then just before the night ended Mike asked me for my phone number and if he could take me out on a date. Exactly one-week later Mike picked me up at my house and we went on our first date.

I was invited to my first vacation with Holly's family and the destination was Hawaii. I knew from Holly’s first time going there, Hawaii was one of her favorite places to visit. At this point Holly and I had been together for about three and half years, I had every intention to ask her to marry me but downplayed it would not happen for quite some time. The element of surprise was big, and I wanted to keep it a secret as best as possible. After months and months of planning, a ring was shipped from Buffalo, New York to Honolulu, Hawaii. Two weeks later, I sketchily asked to leave the car full of Holly's family to run an "errand" without letting the secret out that I was going to FedEx to pick up the ring. I planned a four-year anniversary date at a roof top restaurant with breathtaking views of Honolulu and the Pacific Ocean. My support system warned me, it would be very difficult to hide the ring box while enjoying dinner, which led me to cover my pocket for a few hours. A driver took us to Magic Island Beach following dinner to watch the sunset, or at least that's what Holly thought. I hired a photographer to capture the special moment, which came with the bonus of having a local guide me on best locations and timing for a proposal. On August 11th, 2021 I got down on one knee to ask Holly to spend her life with me and marry me. The pure shock put Holly into a state where words simply would not come out, slowly a giant smile and a few tears. After about thirty seconds, she said yes! We celebrated afterwards with Holly's family, while she was radiating pure happiness and bliss.