Save the New Date: 06.20.20

It was a dreary December evening when Sadie, ready to give up on her foray into online dating , saw a message in her Catholic Match inbox asking her about her favorite C.S. Lewis book and football in Texas. Unable to resist explaining Texans' love for football to a Northerner, she began corresponding with Aaron from Buffalo, NY--an unfortunate 5 hour drive from her home in Hershey, PA. Aaron knew when he saw Sadie that he was looking at the smartest and prettiest young lady he had ever seen, and that this was way too good to be true. The following week, Aaron asked for a phone call, in which Sadie managed to recount an embarrassing childhood story involving cats and bar charts in their brief conversation. Luckily, this did not deter Aaron from wanting to meet in person (in fact, that is what Aaron loved about Sadie). Fate had other plans though it seemed. It was time for Sadie to go back to Texas for Christmas, and Aaron was leaving to lead a medical mission trip to Haiti over winter break. During those weeks, Aaron was so sure Sadie was the one he was meant to marry that he even told his father he intended to be in Sadie's hometown of Wall the next year to celebrate Christmas. Aaron left Haiti accepting he might not be returning with the medical mission again because he was serious about discerning marriage with Sadie (and yes, Zika is a thing). Finally, after about a month of messages, phone calls, and texts, Aaron drove to Hershey and took Sadie out to Chocolate World for their first date--which turned out to be pretty sweet! After Chocolate World Aaron went back to Sadie’s apartment and promptly met her mother (who happened to be visiting that weekend). Sadie's mom regaled him with many tales of the notoriously fun Wall weddings. Aaron left convinced he intended to have one! The couple continued to bond over their love for the Mass of the Ages, mutual interest in science, and their general dislike of the East Coast.

Sadie invited Aaron to her niece Penelope's 1st birthday party at Sadie's sister and brother-in-law's house (Sally and Rich) in Ft. Worth. It would be the perfect time to meet her family--and ask her Dad a pretty important question! Or so she thought. During the party, Aaron chatted with Sadie’s dad on the porch and decided to get right down to business by bluntly stating: “I imagine you heard that Sadie and I are talking about getting married.” All of Sadie's family was in town for Penelope's birthday party. In fact, 16 (including Festus later known as Sebastian) of the approximately 25 people present at the party were staying in Sally and Rich's house that weekend. After the party, Sadie went with her mom to a class to learn how to make chocolate bonbons. In the meantime, unbeknownst to Sadie, Aaron let everyone else in on the secret of his planned proposal while they watched what would lead to Tech’s first ever Final Four appearance in the NCAA basketball tournament. The previous weekend, Tech beat the University of Buffalo (Aaron's school). Sadie’s sister Sarah, in an attempt to push Aaron’s buttons, offered to buy him a Tech t-shirt. She didn’t know Aaron was a recent Red Raider convert following his team's loss! After the game, Aaron went to buy Sadie a beautiful rose bouquet. When Sadie arrived at Sally and Rich's house, Aaron told Sadie he had something for her to read. He tried to get her to stay in the living room, but she insisted they go to Penelope's bedroom where Aaron was staying for the weekend. Once there, Aaron sat down on his make-shift bed/air mattress and read Sadie a poem he wrote himself. Not being a total dunce, Sadie figured out what was happening pretty quickly. Of course she said yes when Aaron asked her to marry him! The happy couple then went to inform everyone else of the exciting news, and Sadie managed to spill wine all over her poem. Rich popped the champagne open and of course, a photo shoot commenced. It was a whirlwind weekend!