We're so excited to celebrate with you!

Sarah: I've known Thomas since our Patrick Henry College days. He always wore a suit, took no prisoners in moot court competitions, and seemed mature beyond his years. We'd worked together on the Patrick Henry Undergraduate Law Review, which he'd founded, and he came to quite a few of the potluck suppers and puzzle nights my roommate and I hosted during my last year at the University of Virginia School of Law, where we'd chat about politics, the classics, and PHC shenanigans like the nerds we are. Thomas: I always knew Sarah as a solid person -- excellent character, brilliant, and genuinely kind. Even so, we more or less saw each other in passing until one day last fall. I'd asked her for her thoughts on a workshop I was leading, but by the time she got back to me, it was already over. But we ended up chatting for several hours that evening about everything from Hudson River School art to Solzhenitsyn, and we realized that we'd missed the true depth of each other's personalities. A couple weeks later, we met up at an art museum, and after several hours of wandering, I asked her if I could take her out to lunch the next weekend. Sarah: The more I got to know this man, the more I fell in love with him -- his love for the Lord, his sense of humor, his ability to communicate with all sorts of people, his sappy side, and his courage in his convictions.

Thomas: Sarah knew I was going to propose (after all, I had pretty much just already informed her I was going to marry her). The only way I was going to make it a surprise was by fooling her about the timing. Unfortunately, a global pandemic isn't the best for ring shopping. There were many dead ends and hours upon hours of searching. Despite the misadventures, I finally found the ring. But I kept telling Sarah about how difficult the search was in hopes that I could persuade her it wouldn't happen for a couple months more. Mere days before we road-tripped to Iowa to visit Sarah's now-matron-of-honor, it arrived at my parents' house (we would stop there on the way). Thankfully, Sarah bought my story of thinking that I'd show her around "downtown" Burton (population 1,500), and wasn't too suspicious when I told her to wear something she'd like to take a couple pictures in. Then, heart pounding, I asked the seven momentous words: "Sarah Elizabeth Crandall, will you marry me?" Sarah: And I squealed, "Yes!!!!!" -- as soon as I could gather my thoughts enough to get the word out! His disinformation campaign definitely worked. I was so surprised and overjoyed. I still can't believe I get to marry this man.