We first met in high school but funny enough, neither of us remember when we met the other. We were in the same grade and both part of our school's Seekers Christian club, but somehow were never in the same class. Over the years, we got to know each other a little better but at best, we were still only acquaintances. Peter would say that Lydia was pretty supportive when he lost his in Dad senior year, and Lydia would say that she always loved Peter's guitar skills and his smile. She actually wrote in his yearbook "you have a nice smile and you should smile more" (lol). Fast forward to our undergrad years, Lydia would occasionally make an appearance at reunions with our mutual friend group during school break but according to Peter, he must have missed those few occasions. Their earliest memorable interaction was when Lydia was in PT school at Ithaca College and Peter was a 1st year at NYU Med school. Peter, along with a few of our HS friends, came to Ithaca to visit Lydia and her friend Jess (also from our HS group) for AppleFest. The weekend included hiking Ithaca's gorges, eating, and partaking in all the apple festivities. However, as any PT knows, there comes a time at gatherings when people say "oh, you're a PT, I have this pain in my [back/neck/knee/fill in the blank]." Well, Peter took the opportunity to tell Lydia how he hurt his back a few weeks prior and needed a PT to help him. Lydia, who still doesn't know how to say no, offered to give Peter a back massage. After the massage, Peter said his back felt so much better that he asked "Lydia, if we're both 30 and still single, will you marry me?" Lydia, being very caught off guard by this question, awkwardly laughed in response. Peter then turned to Jess, who was right next to Lydia and asked, "Jess, if we're both 31 and still single, will you marry me?" and we all laughed. So that kinda became the running joke, and according to Peter, he developed a little crush on Lydia (but of course she had no idea).

Fast forward to summer of 2016, our HS friends Peter Michelli and Francesca Bartalini (who were HS sweethearts) were getting married. Peter was part of the bridal party so he didn't see Lydia during the ceremony. After the ceremony Peter asked Jess "Yo, has Lydia given any thought to my proposal?" and Jess told him "she's gonna be at the reception, why don't you just ask her yourself!" and Peter replied "maybe I will" (lol). Lydia and Jess drove to the reception together and Jess mentioned to Lydia something along the lines that Peter might make a move on her. Strategic? Of course, Jess! At the reception, Peter was seated at the head table and Lydia was seated with our HS friends. When Peter wasn't eating, he would come over to our friend-group's table to talk to us. Lydia thought he looked awkward just standing there when everyone else was sitting, and she offered to share her seat with him. Peter obliged and the two started chatting. After the wedding, somehow Lydia got Peter's number and the two haven't stopped talking ever since. We hung out in a few group settings soon after the wedding, but we've decided that our "first date" was a walk-and-talk along The Highline on the west side of Manhattan. It was a warm July evening and Lydia had suggested they hangout. The plan was to meet at 5 but of course Lydia was running 2 hours late. We walked The Highline and talked about what we'd been up to since HS and what we wanted to do with our careers. We were going to get dinner but Lydia was too late so the night ended with a selfie in front of a gorgeous sunset and a hug goodbye after Peter walked Lydia to the subway. We agreed that next time Peter would come out to Queens so Lydia didn't have to travel into the city.

We continued to text everyday, and the next time we hung out just the two of us was mini golfing in Queens. Peter was in the lead and would have won, but at Hole 15 he made a stupid bet that if Lydia made it and he didn't then she would catch up to Peter's score. Lydia made it, and ultimately ended up winning the game. Also FYI we had made a deal that loser pays for dinner, so Peter's effort in this scenario remains questionable... So Peter bought dinner and agreed to let Lydia pay for dessert. We got cupcakes at a bakery and ate them outside. Since there were no benches, we sat on a giant rock in a park and talked for another hour. Lydia asked Peter what the next few months looked like for him in Med school (*ehhem* she may have been trying to gauge his availability for a relationship...). There were a total of 3 awkward silences during our conversation, and finally on the third awkward silence Peter spoke up and asked Lydia if she would be his girlfriend. Lydia: "Really??!" Peter: "Yes" Lydia: "Give me your hand!" [which, for the record, was the first time we held hands lol] Peter: "Does that mean yes?" Lydia: "Of course!" [5 min later] Lydia: "omg are you my boyfriend? omg this is so weird!!" Long story short, the next year and a half was full of adventure, happy memories, and realizing that we both had a lot more in common that we had originally thought. We met each other's families within the first 4 months of dating and made time for each other amidst our busy work/school schedules.

It was a chilly afternoon in mid-March, 2018. I went to sign the lease for my new apt in Astoria which I was super excited about. Peter and I were dog-sitting our friends' puppy while they were away so after signing the lease I went back to their apt. Peter had been watching the pup all day so he said he wanted to get out of the apt and go out for dinner. He said I should wear something nice but I thought nothing of it and the nicest clothes I'd brought were jeans and a nice-ish shirt. The night before Peter talked about watching the sunset from our friends' rooftop, so we were going to stop by the rooftop before going out to dinner. It was pretty chilly and we were the only ones up there. The sunset was gorgeous so of course me being me, I had to spend 5 minutes taking photos and an obligatory snapchat video of it. I told Peter how happy I was that I'd soon be moving into an apt closer to work, and that the sunset was so beautiful. A minute or so later Peter suggested we head to dinner. He wanted to walk through the grassy area which I thought was strange since he'd get his nice shoes dirty, but we went anyway. A few steps later, he stops walking, turns toward me and takes both my hands. In my head I was thinking "ok why did you stop walking?" Then he says, "Babe, I know we've only been dating for 19 months but it feels like longer since we've known each other for so long. I know I'm leaving for Ohio soon but I don't think that's going to make a difference because our love doesn't change with distance. Even though sometimes you frustrate the hell out of me, these past 19 months have been the happiest of my life." Then he got down on one knee, pulled a box out from his jacket and as he opened it he said "Will you marry me?"

I look down and see...a RING POP....yes, a green ring pop in the box! I was SO confused!! I was like "Wait, what? Peter is this a joke??" He's trying to keep a straight face but then starts laughing. He puts the box down on the ground and says, "I'm only kidding" and then reaches BACK into his jacket and says "Everyone knows blue raspberry is the best flavor" and pulls out ANOTHER ring pop out!!!! I was SO thrown off at this point, I honestly didn't know what to think, so I'm like "Wait, are you kidding me? Why are you joking about this?" and so I just start laughing cus I didn't know what to do. Apparently I leaned over and kissed him but I don't remember doing that. I knew HE knew that if this were all a joke I would have thrown him off the roof. So he holds up the blue ring pop and he asks again "Will you marry me?" And I was like "Well, if you're being serious, then yes, but babe what the heck??" So he puts the ring pop on my right ring finger. Then he reaches back into his jacket and pulls out what actually looked like a real ring box, but of course at this point I'm expecting there to be one of those fake 25 cent rings we used to buy as kids from those dispensers. Then he says "In all seriousness here's the real thing" and opens the box. It looked legit, so I said "Wait are you being for real? Is this a joke?" and he says "no, it's not a joke. Lydia Grace Nitchman, will you make me the luckiest man in the world?" After all that just happened I had to ask him about 10x if he was actually serious before I said YES! and then we laughed some more. Then he yells toward the door of the roof "She said yes!!" Little did I know two of Peter's friend's had been hiding behind a wall the entire time taking pictures and a video of the whole thing. So we took some more photos and I still couldn't believe what had happened!!