Kalli and I actually go way back. We obviously didn’t realize the role we would play in each other’s lives but we each knew the other even as young kids. I grew up two blocks from St. Mary’s School which is where I went K through 8 and Kalli’s house just happened to be directly between my house and the school. I walked to and from school nearly everyday. As it so happened, Kalli’s Mom Sharie, ran a daycare that several of my friends went to after school. So on occasion I would stop by briefly and talk to them on my way home. One of my earliest memories of Kalli is her out in their driveway playing basketball. She still shoots the ball the same way she did back then. I can’t say much though because she did just recently defeat me in a game of HORSE in our own driveway. I only admit that because I love her.....and I let her win.... We each kind of had our own crowd in high school and it wasn’t until later in college that her and I actually hung out in the same crowd. I ended up asking her out on a date which she accepted. Being the classy gentleman that I am I took her to the nicest place I could think of... TGIFridays. After our delightful dinner we watched the classic cinema piece “Sex in the City.” She later admitted it was a test. I passed, but barely. Kalli and I went our separate ways. She eventually moved out to L.A. for a couple years and I moved to the other L.A. more commonly referred to as Lower Alabama. One night after both of us had moved home we met up with mutual friends at Pub13. I remember seeing her walk in the bar that night and I was taken off guard by how beautiful she was. Luckily for me the group made plans to go to STL for Mardi Gras so I knew I was going to get another chance to hang out with her. We had a great weekend with everyone in STL and before we went home I had asked her out on another date and we have been together ever since. Our story has barely begun and I could keep writing for days, but I’ll stop here for now...

I had a pretty good idea that Kalli and I were going to get married fairly early in the relationship. I knew Kalli was ready for marriage as well when she would not so subtly mention it from time to time....I can read her like a book...soo I sneakily began doing my research on diamonds. Thanks to the education I received from my Uncle, Jerry Lopiccalo, he helped me pick out the perfect diamond. I kind of knew what style ring she would like but still was lost with all the ring choices. When I saw the ring I instantly knew without a doubt it was the one. It took forever for it to get made, but when it was finally finished I called her dad to see if he was home and if it would be ok if I stopped by. Apparently, it was pretty obvious what I was about to do because Sharie made her brother, Tim, leave and she hurried upstairs. I asked Ray in person and to my relief he gave me permission. We celebrated with a hug and then a beer to man it up a little bit. I then had almost a two hour drive back home and I spent most of the time on the phone...hands free..with my sister brainstorming some ideas of how to do it. It was St. Patrick’s day and our 3 year anniversary. Kalli was at work and I was busy preparing. Both of us were totally sober for those wondering. I asked Kalli if she just wanted to stay in and have some dinner, wine, watch “The Office”and put together the puzzle of a picture of us she had given me for V-Day. I put the ring in the felt bag the puzzle came in and placed it out of the way. I then took out the puzzle piece that was her left hand. We put the puzzle together and she thought we were missing a piece. I told her to check the bag the puzzle came in. She opened the bag and saw the ring. Thinking that she had accidentally found the ring she wasn’t supposed to find I took it out of her hand got down on one knee and proposed to her. She said yes. We celebrated. Then I gave her the missing puzzle piece to calm her down and we completed the puzzle.