While Pat and Rory’s story may not be torn from the pages of a romance novel or the script of a rom-com, they nonetheless knew early on that this relationship was destined for a storybook ending. Like many pandemic couples, Pat and Rory met on the dating app Hinge. Naturally, Pat’s profile was filled with bad attempts at jokes and a number of eyebrow raising opinions, like his take that a trip to Lake Michigan was an equal if not identical experience to a visit to the ocean (It’s important to note that after many trips to the coast with the Butzer family this opinion has been summarily dismissed, and Pat has received many, many jabs for this indiscretion). Rory’s profile consisted mostly of selfies from the past year, each with a different hair color. Rory’s displayed knowledge of hair pushed Pat to message them with the age old question: to mullet or not to mullet? Luckily for Pat he managed to charm his way out of, or past his many bad takes, and a date was made. Pat and Rory met at Chicago’s Holiday Club on February 26th, 2022, a spot agreed upon for its cheap beer and pool tables (that they were both too scared to use after seeing the level of competition at the table). A first date ended up turning into a second, then a third, then months on end often not going a day without seeing each other even if it was just for a quick coffee or late dinner in Rory’s small studio apartment. They spent the next few months learning everything they could about one another. While much time was spent learning the big, important things like what their families are like, and what they want in the future, more time was spent learning all of the little things–like Pat’s tendency to turn off the music in the car when parking “so he can see what he’s doing” or what Rory’s definition of “splash” is as it relates to simple syrup in their iced tea. It wasn't long at all before it was pretty obvious that they were in this for the long haul. In Pat's case, it was a little over a month before he was texting his closest friends saying he might be in love. Within a year, hometowns were visited, a cat was adopted, and the lease to our first apartment was signed. Both Rory and Pat are lucky enough to have parents who modeled the love that comes from marrying your best friend, so following in their footsteps on October 5th Pat asked his best friend Rory to marry him.