We're getting married!

Like true millennials we met online through a dating app, but our first real date was at a bar called Wilfie & Nell in the West Village in New York City. A candle-lit bar known for craft cocktails. We somehow managed to seat ourselves under a blaring overhead spotlight that would make the Broadway theaters jealous. A quick after work drink turned into a six hour date complete with old fashioneds, an impromptu arm wrestling match and an onslaught of Shannon's famous questioning. Subsequent dates included a Halloween dinner (Mike dressed as a lawyer, Shannon dressed as a buyer), an ill-advised trip to the Bryant Park ice skating rink, and a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Our proposal was almost more fiction than fact. Set for March 21, 2020 several months in advance, the proposal was almost derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic that ended up shutting down all of New York City (a full lockdown would go into effect at midnight, a few hours after the proposal). Under the guise of leaving the apartment for some fresh air, we packed some champagne and took a walk from Tribeca into Brooklyn across the Brooklyn Bridge, the same route we took on one of our first dates. Once across the bridge we turned toward the waterfront on the East River, and "happened" to come across an old carousel sitting on the river below the Brooklyn Bridge. As we approached the glass-windowed carousel, we were greeted with a spattering of yellow caution tape, warning signs, and a large "Pandemic - Closed to the Public" sticker. Despite Shannon's concern about being arrested, Mike pushed through the caution tape and led Shannon inside for a private carousel ride (unbeknownst to Shannon, Mike had rented out the carousel several months before and convinced a maintenance worker to run the machinery despite the pandemic shutdown). After the carousel ride (one of Shannon's favorite activities since her childhood vacations to Martha's Vineyard), Mike took Shannon outside to the waterfront, got down on one knee, Shannon said "yes" and we looked out across the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline, the city where we fell in love. While a night of dinner and drinks in the City was not to be had (all restaurants were shut down and Mike's family's flights were all cancelled as a result of COVID-19), Mike's parents drove 14 hours from Wisconsin for a surprise engagement party at the Sprague's home in Greenwich, Connecticut.