We met at Boston University where we both worked with the student theatre group, Stage Troupe, and occasionally went to class (note: Ashley always went to class). Although we ran in the same circles, it wasn't until the summer of 2007 during Stage Troupe's summer production of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 (either the worst OR the greatest play of all time) that we started spending time together. At a party at Bobby's palatial Allston basement apartment, Ashley overheard Bobby saying he had tickets to a production of the musical Parade at the Boston Center for the Arts, and boldly invited herself along. Neither of us really knew if it was a date or not. The next day, Bobby left Ashley a confidently detailed (or transparently terrified) voicemail confirming the evening plans. They met by a fountain in Copley Square that was overflowing with soap bubbles due to the acts of some criminal mastermind and went to see the musical. Afterwards they took the MBTA's Green Line home together, a mode of transportation that's faster than walking but slower than say riding a camel. Instead of making plans for a nightcap, Bobby gave Ashley an awkward hug, said "k bye!" and ran off the train as it pulled into Harvard Ave. Ashley was left confused about where this was going, both the T and the relationship. Despite this inauspicious beginning, and with the invaluable help of determined friends, T's Pub, and frozen pizza, we were “official” a few weeks later. The photo at the bottom of this page is from July 3, 2007. And yes, Bobby still wears that shirt.

We could never remember precisely when that “first date" to Parade was and had settled on celebrating our anniversary on July 4th. Ten years go by, during which not a single person ever asked either of us "so when are you getting married?" In preparation for the proposal (which again was predicted by absolutely no one) Bobby went into his old gmail calendar, scrolled back 10 years and actually found the day of their “first date.” (Why it never occurred to us to do this before can never be adequately explained.) Fortuitously, Bobby's theatre company, Writers Theatre, was producing Parade in the summer of 2017, exactly a decade later. He got them tickets for the night of June 14th, left Ashley an assured/awkward voicemail that afternoon, and the two watched the show. While riding their camel home afterwards, Bobby suggested they swing by the Lincoln Square fountain, which recently had been besieged by a soap bandit (complete coincidence, honestly, not an elaborate part of this proposal). The fountain was not full of bubbles, alas, so Bobby gave Ashley a bar of soap to make up for it. He then surprised her with an awkward hug, said "k bye!", and started to run away. But, this time, he turned around, and came back with a ring. Bobby thought he had been super smooth about it all. Ashley totally saw it coming.