We both were invited to a party by friends and got paired together for (water!) pong. Fist bumps, teamwork, and encouragement were plentiful--and of course some missed shots, mostly by Marissa. The game ended and we both enjoyed the other's company too much to walk away permanently. We exchanged contact information that night and started dating shortly thereafter. It's been a wonderful journey for both of us!

Despite being virtually incapable of lying, Sean avoided spilling the beans about his proposal plans by telling Marissa he was "going in for surgery" anytime he had to do prep work. He insisted that while he knew nothing about the details of his surgery, the short amount of time he was going to be indisposed, and the lack of any previous doctors' appointments, he assured Marissa he was in steady, capable hands, and that at the end of his procedures, he would finally be able to achieve his lifelong dreams of dunking. On our five-year anniversary, we were planning a nice dinner in Ann Arbor and a walk in the botanical gardens. Because of Sean's "surgery" and the fact that we had already booked our wedding venue, Marissa had suspicions of the proposal happening that evening. However, instead of Marissa's boss showing up for their 12pm meeting, Sean walked into the team conference room in his suit with a bouquet of roses. We were engaged with two close friends present, snapping pictures and taking videos.

As you know, we had planned to celebrate with all of our friends and family in May of 2020. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic and Michigan's "shelter in place" order, we had to postpone our event. Still, we wanted to get married, and the May 9th date was very special to us, as it was our 6-year anniversary. We were able to acquire a marriage license at the last minute and had a very small, 8-person ceremony at Sean's family home with our parents, siblings, and officiant (Marissa's Maid of Honor, Cass). Our moms did short readings for the ceremony and our dads signed our marriage certificate as witnesses. Our wedding was not at all what we had envisioned, but we were so incredibly grateful for being healthy, being able to get the certificate in the nick of time, and being able to share the ceremony with the people who made us who we are. At the time of the vow renewal we will have been married for just over two years, and no matter how many more years of our lives together lie ahead, there will never be enough.