https://youtu.be/NdY0prTaho4

Katherine was born and raised in South Bend. After spending several years away for school and work, she moved back her hometown to work for Women's Care Center (pregnancy resource center) with her mom. Just one month after she moved back to South Bend, she reconnected with a good friend from High School (shout out Liz Anthony) who introduced her to Joe. Joe was a recent graduate of Notre Dame about one year into his role at the Investment Office at the University. The story could have ended there... but it didn't.

Joe and Katherine became fast friends...just friends... for over a year. But any excuse was good enough to sit on the porch, throw a theme party, or watch the Bachelor. At one of these theme parties, Katherine was lamenting to Joe how she was "getting back out there" in the dating world. She had a second date coming up the following Tuesday that she wasn't particularly excited about. Joe had many of his siblings in for the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game, all of whom were also at this party. Maybe his family gave him the courage, because at that moment he decided to go for it saying, "If your date doesn't go well on Tuesday, how about you go on a date with me on Thursday?" After Katherine got over the shock... she agreed! Needless to say, the date earlier in the week did NOT go well.

It was a Tuesday night and Joe and Katherine decided they were going to celebrate! Katherine liked to find any excuse to drink champagne and celebrate, and today felt no different. Katherine was cooking dinner at her house and Joe said he would grab the champagne. Well, Joe brought over a bottle of Dom Perignon. The last time either of them had drank this champagne was with Joe's parents, the weekend they met Katherine. Joe's mom, Kate, has since passed away, making this memory even more special. Katherine was surprised that Joe brought over this bottle and suggested that they save it for a "real celebration." But, Joe insisted... so they enjoyed a glass. After dinner, Joe asked Katherine if she still writes messages on the wine corks. Katherine had another tradition where she wrote a short message and the date on the cork of every bottle of wine that was opened in her house. She brought over a huge container of the corks and distractedly started digging through the jar and reading them to Joe. She didn't realize that Joe was writing a message on this cork. When Katherine finally looked up, Joe handed her the cork where he had written "Will You Marry Me?"