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I met Russ during the Fall semester of 2018 at the University of Memphis. He applied for a position at the restaurant I worked at, one Friday afternoon, and I thought to myself "who is this 7 ft tall Sigma Chi that I have never met??" Well, the next day he caught me making my rounds at a Tigers home game, talking to at least 20 people up and down the bleachers-- imagine that! That night, we ran into each other at a mutual friends birthday party. The next afternoon, we ran into each other AGAIN at Cook- Out by campus. At this point, we both acknowledged that it is obvious he was ~destined~ to meet me & the rest is history! :) For this reason, I am forever thankful for Tiger home games, Cook-out, and us running into each other so many times in one weekend that Fall, because it lead us to where were meant to be. 2018 was such a difficult year for me, but in some ways I have a feeling this was always apart of the plan. - Allison

We had been together for over 4 years, but it took a lot less than that for me to know I wanted Allison to be my wife. I got the ring in May of 2022 and started planning the proposal, pictures, and party, all while trying to keep it a secret from her. It was one of the hardest things to stay quiet about! Thankfully through the help of many friends, the plan for the entire day came together and she was completely oblivious. Her friends made her believe they were going out for a nice, girls night dinner, and that I was going to be out of town. Little did she know, I was setting the scene with the photographer just down the road on the Mississippi River. I was not nervous until the second I saw her friends car pulling up to us. Stunned and shocked, she took a very long walk to me to where I asked her to marry me. She was shocked when she saw our families waiting for us in the parking lot, and even more was planned. We then went to a surprise party where all of our family and friends were and celebrated throughout the night! - Russ