We're getting married!

Patrice and Lovel first crossed paths in 2009, during their junior year of college. Patrice was studying abroad in Barcelona; Lovel was in Cambridge. A couple of Lovel's childhood best friends (aka the Takoma Park biker boys) happened to be in Patrice's program and organized a Barcelona meetup. In true Americans-abroad fashion, they set out to the bars as a big, loud, obnoxious group, but Patrice and Lovel somehow drifted away from the pack, ending up on a park bench until sunrise and stealing kisses on the Metro home. As was appropriate for the times, they became Facebook friends. A few flirty messages were exchanged, and then life took over. Over the next 15 years, Lovel made his way through undergrad at the University of San Diego, a year of Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Baltimore, law school at Gonzaga, and eventually landed in Colorado as a public defender. Patrice graduated from Ohio State, moved to Australia, got her TESOL certification, and went on to teach in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Japan. After a few years of purposeful wandering, she returned stateside, started corporate life in Cincinnati, earned her MBA from Notre Dame, and accepted a job in New York City. Fast forward to New Year's Eve 2025. Through a serendipitous (and somewhat accidental) Facebook post, their paths crossed again. Lovel spotted Patrice's post, dropped a comment letting her know he'd recently moved back to the DMV to be closer to family, left his number, deleted his profile, and put the ball firmly in her court. A few weeks later, Patrice texted to say she'd be in DC visiting a friend — was he free to meet up? Patrice's visit happened to coincide with peak cherry blossom bloom. Lovel planned a meet-cute at the Benjamin Franklin statue, followed by a walk down to the Tidal Basin. Neither of them was entirely sure if this was a date or just two old acquaintances catching up. But somewhere amid the comically romantic blooms swirling around them, they declared it an official date, and headed to Metro Bar —a nod to those first stolen kisses on the Barcelona Metro. The next morning brought an awkward, hopeful goodbye as Lovel drove Patrice to Union Station to catch the Amtrak back to New York. The next steps were unclear — until Lovel mustered 16 years of courage, picked up the phone, and suggested a weekend in Philly. They met in the City of Brotherly Love the following weekend. Visits between DC and NYC followed, and by early fall, Patrice had made the move to DC. The following March, they recreated their magical reunion — Ben Franklin, cherry blossoms, Metro Bar, the whole thing. The day after, exactly one year from their first date, Lovel invited Patrice on a nature walk at Black Hill Regional Park in Maryland, got down on one knee, and asked her to marry him. She said yes, of course, and the rest is history!