The Future Russells

We first met in Columbus, OH where we both attended The Ohio State University. While at school we were introduced by mutual friends and were fortunate enough to remain friends throughout college. Molly is adventurous and a traveler at heart, so once she earned her degree she moved to Orlando, FL for work. Meanwhile, Michael accepted a job in Columbus and stayed closer to family & friends after graduation. Throughout the years, we were able to stay in touch and often saw each other when Molly made trips back to Columbus. Molly would ultimately leave Orlando moving 2 more times landing in Chicago just before the Covid pandemic. With the pandemic lockdown, Molly couldn’t stand being holed up in her Chicago apartment so she moved home to Columbus for a few months. While Molly was home we began to see each other much more frequently. There were Sunday brunches, birthday parties and just fun nights out & about with our mutual friends. After a concert for the band Michael was in, he knew it was time to ask Molly on a date. She of course was just waiting for him to finally do it. This lead to our first date at Local Cantina and the eventual decision Michael made to follow Molly to Chicago when she needed to return for work.

It didn’t take long for Michael to realize that he found his person. After some not so subtle hints from Molly, Michael knew it was time to pick out a ring. When Michael went to pick up the ring he had every intention of waiting a few weeks to propose so he could plan it all out. However, the jeweler and his dad kindly suggested he better get on it. On December 30, 2022, We had plans to meet friends for dinner at Mezzo in Dublin. It was something we had done before so Molly thought nothing of it. A friend they were “meeting” suggested they park in the free garage then walk across the pedestrian bridge to take in the Christmas lights. Never passing up a chance to look at Christmas lights Molly loved that idea. Once they crossed the bridge, Michael got down on one knee and asked the big question. After the initial excitement & shock, Molly said yes and only then realized both our parents were cheering from a few feet away. We had dinner with our parents at Mezzo and after dinner Michael talked Molly into grabbing one more drink at Pins. To Molly’s surprise, when they arrived at Pins all of our friends & family were there to celebrate.