We met in 10th grade at Saint John’s Church in West Roxbury for Confirmation class. For those who know Sam, she was there to be in and out, and had no time for anyone else. Fortunately, that did not stop Ryan. For those that know him, you know he can be a menace when he wants — and that day he was in top form. Throughout the class, Ryan tried his best to get Sam’s attention--though unsuccessful. It wasn’t until a little healthy competition, after Confirmation class ended, that Ryan was finally successful in getting Sam’s information. After a couple months of talking, and Ryan’s continued persistence, they had their first date seeing Zach Brown Band at Fenway Park while eating Fenway Franks. Almost 10 years later, they have purchased and renovated a home together, are parents to two English Bulldogs, Mabel and Ethel, and still try to see Zach Brown Band’s performance whenever they come to town.

Ryan's POV: I knew I was going to marry Samantha about 8 years ago. Lisa and Tommy knew the same and sat me down at the kitchen table and said, “You know you need to prove yourself. I hope you don’t think I’m just going to let you take my daughter away without proving your worth.” Lisa then posed the condition that in order to marry Samantha, I would need to build Lisa and Tommy a birdhouse worthy of their daughter. A condition I thought about often in the years since. During those 8 years, Sam and I accomplished a lot and bought a house together. It was while we were working on the house that I decided it was time to build the birdhouse. So, I took scraps from the house and hid them away. One day, while alone, I built the birdhouse using wood scraps, nails, and screws left over from the construction of our home. I made sure that the birdhouse was built to replicate it as well. After months of Sam nagging me for a ring, and doing my best to hide the birdhouse, I finally mustered the courage to ask Tommy and Lisa for their blessing. I showed up to their house with the ring in my pocket and the birdhouse on display. With their blessing, it was now time for me to ask Samantha. I knew for certain that I had to propose on the Cape, since we spent the last 10 summers together there. So, I decided sunset at Grey’s Beach would be the perfect place. We got to the beach early as I was trying to find the perfect place to ask Sam the question, all while trying my best to hide the box in my pocket. Under the guise of taking pictures, I finally plucked up enough courage to ask Samantha to marry me. Unfortunately, this was not my moment as a random woman decided that we had been taking pictures too long and that she needed to take a picture in the same spot we were standing. After taking her picture and leaving, I had to try my hardest to convince Samantha to go back to the same spot for one last picture, her last as girlfriend. Once I got her back to our perfect spot, I slid the ring out of my pocket. Sam still had no idea what was happening. It wasn’t until I started getting onto one knee that she realized what I was about to ask. Sam, being who she is, wouldn’t let me get all the way down on one knee before breaking out into tears and repeating “yes.” I can confidentially say it was the best moment of my life.   Sam's POV: It was a beautiful summer Saturday down in Cape Cod that started off as a lot of others had been recently, I was complaining non-stop about not being engaged. At this point, I was a broken record. Ryan had started ignoring my complaints given their frequency, so he suggested we go watch the sunset together later that day. In my typical fashion, I said “no,” until Connie, Ryan's mom, asked me to go—to which my immediate response was “your wish is my command.” Though, to compromise, Connie and Ryan suggested that we stop at the beach shack to get a ring pop to satisfy my complaining. We got to the sunset an hour early and Connie convinced us to take some pictures while we waited. We did every pose, in every part of the beach that you could imagine. Little did I know, Ryan had other intentions. As the sun began to set, I caught a glimpse of Mike, Ryan’s Dad, pop out of the bushes with his camera. However, before I could ask questions, Ryan grabbed my hands and got down on one knee. I truly have never been more surprised. I got to exchange my ring pop for the real thing.