As with many of our generation, we met on a dating app! Both of us had moved to St. Louis within weeks of each other. After several years of seasonal and contract jobs, Grace moved here straight from Montana, to be a seasonal Park Ranger at Gateway Arch National Park. Ben was wrapping up his four years of living in Huntsville, Alabama, which included contracting with NASA on their Artemis Mission's Space Launch System. Ben transferred to a position at Boeing's St. Louis office to work as an instrumentation engineer in their Polysonic Wind Tunnel, and took the classic millennial journey of moving back into his parent's basement. Ben's profile included his love for Harry Potter, which intrigued Grace enough to match with him. Through many more nerdy conversations about their shared interests they began to know each other more and more. After a few weeks of chatting, Ben asked Grace out on a date. Their first couple dates were a little bumpy--the first started late because of a tornado warning and the second had to end early due to a sudden bout of food poisoning--but they made it through and now those memories have only made them closer. Grace originally had no intention of living in St. Louis beyond her 6-month seasonal contract, but she quickly found herself falling in love, and she decided to get a new job and canceled her move-out date. Sometimes life brings many unexpected blessings, and now we both have made ourselves a home here!

Ben took Grace on a day-long adventure throughout St. Louis and Edwardsville, recounting many of their beloved dates. They went to the top of the Gateway Arch, the monument that had brought Grace to St. Louis. Then Ben took Grace to Mission Taco for lunch, the location of their first date. Then they went to Art Hill in Forest Park, soaking up the beautiful day and the memories of their fourth date. Then they headed over to Edwardsville, to go to Saturday afternoon mass at St. Boniface Church, Ben's hometown parish and the location of our upcoming wedding ceremony. After, Ben took Grace out to dinner at a local Italian restaurant, to relive their second date (except without the food poisoning!). As an after dinner treat, they got frozen custard, reminiscent of their third date, and sat on a bench in a local city park, the location of their fifth date. As the sun started to set, Ben took Grace back to his parent's house and led her to the TV. He left her to watch a beautiful montage he had made, filled with pictures and videos from their relationship. There were even some surprise guests, as Grace's closest friends had all sent in video clips showing their love and support. At the end of the video, Ben popped on the screen and directed Grace to head out the front door. She walked outside and suddenly one of her favorite John Denver songs started playing from a speaker in the bushes. Unbeknownst to Grace, while she was watching the video, Ben was outside the house, frantically decorating the bushes and trees with fairy lights. They slow danced to the rest of the song, and then Ben went down on one knee and Grace said yes! Afterwards, Ben led Grace back to the TV, where a Zoom call with her close friends was waiting, all ready to congratulate them! It's been a whirlwind journey, filled with many blessings. We are so excited to celebrate with you!