Just to give you a little context in case you’re reading this story of my wonderful bride-to-be and I - and you don’t know this little factoid about me: I’m a big baseball fan and baseball history enthusiast. Despite going to the same university (Go Dukes) for four years and having mutual friends there who would wind up getting married themselves, Dani and I met at our best friends’ housewarming party on June, 25th, 2021, approximately 4 years after we somehow never met. Naturally, the two of us being funny, friendly, and charming people, we hit it off that weekend and decided to keep in touch. Later that year, we had planned to meet up for the first time just the two of us in December, and thus I packed my bags, filled up on gas, and rode on to Wexford, PA, unaware that would be a ride to begin our journey of a lifetime. What did I propose for our first activity upon my arrival after my four and a half hour drive from Arlington, VA? “Can we watch a few clips from Ken Burns: Baseball? I’m really into it lately, if you don’t mind.” Somehow Dani obliged, and the rest is history. I know it’s silly, the idea of her acknowledging my unhealthy obsession with baseball meaning so much to me, but it’s just one of endless examples of why I love her and will continue to for all eternity. Myself being the sometimes forgetful, negligent idiot that I can be, of course Dani saw a picture of the engagement ring on my phone the day I came home with it (I thought I had the picture deleted everywhere, but there it was in a chat on my Messages app while we were looking at my phone together, oops.) I knew I had lost the element of surprise and desperately wanted to get it back. On the night of January 4th, 2024, Dani and I had just picked up Lucy from the groomer and were walking towards our car when we noticed a crowd of people keeping their distance from a car on fire in a nearby parking lot. Lucy and I wanted to get the heck out of there so that we wouldn’t receive PTSD from seeing a car explode. But being the kind and caring person that she is, Dani wanted to make sure that fire trucks and an ambulance were on their way and called 911. And even though they were likely on the way already (they were, the operator mentioned the calls they already received), that didn’t matter to her. She wanted to be sure help was on the way. The combination of the randomness of the car fire, symbolizing that you never knew when you may come across danger on a seemingly normal day, and witnessing Dani’s compassion once again resulted in the realization of a lifetime. “I can’t wait any longer. I need to marry this woman and give her the ring she deserves.” I decided it was time to get out of the dugout, step up to the plate, and hit this proposal out of the park. When we got home, we were still in the early days of our short-lived “Dry January” (a common New Years’ tradition of no drinking that month.) We had turned on The Golden Bachelor Wedding, and Dani was looking in the refrigerator for the sparkling grape juice we had bought for the show. I walked in the kitchen with the ring box in hand behind my back and my heart beating like crazy, and said the first thing that came to my head. “It’s a shame we don’t have real champagne for this.” I said, down on one knee. “What do you mean?” Dani said before turning around, gasping and crying. And just like Eddie Murray did twice in Game 5 of the 1983 World Series, I had hit not just one home run with that amazing proposal, but two. When I put that ring on her finger and heard her say “Yes”, I had hit the best home run of my life, clinching the proverbial World Series of Dani’s love. I cannot wait to be standing across from my best friend and marrying her in front of the altar on October 25th, 2025.