How Lucky Are We?

We were introduced by our dear friend Sandy Lord-Hunt earlier in December 2017 via text. After chatting for about a week - and after my many failed attempts to meet up for lunch - Samantha finally offered to meet me at a local Irish pub 🍀 (Shamrock's). The only wild part is that she messaged me around 10pm to see if I'd be willing to meet up. I had already settled into bed and had donned my pajamas. But who am I to decline the offer? I got up, got dressed and drove a few short miles to the pub. I took my first glance at Samantha in the parking lot and was happy that she looked like her photos! 📸 We greeted each other and went inside for drinks. She ordered a beer 🍺 and I a Jack and Coke 🥃. While standing by the bar, a drunk guy walked up to us and asked me if he could dance with my wife?! haha! I glanced over at Samantha with a grin and gave her the option. She of course declined his request. After we got our drinks, we found a small table towards the side of the pub and proceeded to chit chat for HOURS! ⏳ I was lost in her eyes; I loved her story. When we finally left the pub, we walked over to our cars. The evening air was so cold that our breaths escaped our mouths in whispy puffs 💨. We talked for about thirty more minutes before giving each other a hug goodbye. I wanted to kiss 💋 her so badly but didn't want to seem "too eager"... On my drive home, I couldn't believe that I had such a great time! ☺ I was enamored by Samantha's beauty, her intellect, and kind heart. ❤ --Ryan

03/02/2019 So there we were - gathered as a family at Olive Garden. 🌇 I had mostly planned everything for that evening: I drove myself to the restaurant because I needed to pick up Gavin from his place before dinner while Samantha and the rest of the family loaded up in her vehicle. Secretly, I picked up a bouquet of long stem roses 🌹🌹 and stashed them in the back seat of my car. When we all met up at the restaurant, I ensured that Samantha and I sat with our backs to the entrance of the restaurant. This is a key 🗝 element of the evening. During our meal, we all joked around about miscellaneous subjects like school, work, and life in general. Towards the end of the meal 🍝, as we began finishing up our plates, I excused myself to the "bathroom". In reality, I ducked outside to my car and retrieved the bouquet of roses. As I walked back into the restaurant, I could feel my face get flushed 😳 I was so damn nervous and don't know why?! 😂 As I approached Samantha from behind, I had to nonchalantly grab the ring 💍 in the box from my jacket pocket that was draped over my chair. As Samantha turned around to see me, she was busy stuffing the leftover garlic bread sticks 🥖 into a bag. She was surprised 😮 when she saw the bouquet 💐shoved in her face. I stammered and mumbled that I loved her so much after she asked why I got her flowers. Then, this is where everything fell apart.

03/02/2019 I reached into my pants pocket and pulled out the ring in the box 🎁. Lemme tell you about this cool little box: when you opened it, there was an embedded little LED light that would turn on and shine onto the ring. This little light would cast a bright stream of light that would allow the ring to sparkle and dazzle! Sounds pretty amazing, right? Well, as I dropped to one knee, I pulled the box out of my pocket. I began to speak, my throat suddenly dry. Sweat formed on my brow. Nervously, I pawwed the little box open with such force that the box broke into the two separate pieces! At the same time, due to the force in which I used to open this small box, the ring itself tumbled out of the bottom half of the box! The ring fell under the darkness of the table in the middle of a Saturday dinner service. I quickly scramble under the table, feeling around the carpet for the ring. I inadvertently knocked over my chair 🪑in the process that caused a loud thud and it seemed like everyone in the restaurant stopped and looked at our table. Completely flustered, I found the ring and returned to my one-kneed stance. 🧎‍♂️I pierced a look into Samantha's eyes, embarrassed, and stammered that I loved her and wanted to be with her forever. I had rehearsed a small lovey dovey speech but after the "Ring Toss", my mind went blank. I ended up just saying, "Will you be my wife?" Samantha said yes and I slipped the ring onto her finger. We shared a kiss while laughing at what had just happened. The servers and many other patrons all clapped for us and even got offered a free dessert! --Ryan

After a few long and truly odd months of internet dating I soon realized that I was sorely ill equipped for modern dating. A friend of mine, Sandy, from my ladies lunch group, asked if I would like to meet a friend of hers after hearing all my dating nightmares. I said sure and she promptly Facebook chat introduced Ryan and I. We texted a few times but he was much younger (12 years to be exact) and I thought that he was just too young, so I stalled meeting him in person for awhile, despite his repeated attempts at a lunch date. On the Winter Solstice (December 21, 2017) I went on what I thought would be my last internet date. I had resigned myself that it was better to be alone then go on anymore dates with weirdos. My date of course went south quickly and I ended the meeting after one drink. As I sat in my car taking stock of what was another bust of an evening and deleting my OKCupid app, I realized, here I was all dressed up, and nowhere to go! So homebound I was headed. Just then, Ryan texted me he was home after a long day and wanted to say, goodnight. I figured since I was dressed, and was feeling salty after the weird guy date. I asked him if he wanted to get a drink. He said he just put on his pajamas. I coaxed him out of bed and into getting dressed again, and meeting me at Shamrock's Pub. I couldn't believe my Yuletide luck!! He was easy on the eyes, conversation was effortless, entertaining, and engaging. I was very much in like with Ryan on the spot. So much so, we hung out until closing. In addition to closing down the pub, we stood outside together shivering for another half hour. I was hoping to get a goodnight kiss from Ryan. However, the kiss didn't happen until the second date. Someone was nervous 😂🤣. That was it...we were smitten. We have been together ever since. The moon was our witness, the stars aligned, and the longest night of the year all in agreement that we were meant to be. --Samantha