Tom and Marisa met through Tom’s sister-in-law, Raquel. It started with a simple text from Tom saying “Hi Marisa, this is Chuck’s brother, Tom. How are you?” They chatted for a while about favorite movies, hobbies, our families, work, etc. Tom asked Marisa out to dinner at Due 360 in Summit, NJ and conversation flowed wonderfully. They both liked each other and knew a second date was a definite. Axe throwing was date number two where Marisa beat Tom in every game they played. After a few dates, Tom asked Marisa to come over for a home cooked meal. After dinner, Tom gave Marisa a Valentine’s Day Card asking her to be his girlfriend. At the bottom it said, check “Yes if you’d want to be my girlfriend” or check “No, not right now which is totally okay.” Of course the answer was an absolute “Yes.” From that day, our love for each other grew stronger and stronger.

December 21, 2023. Tom and Marisa’s dad Michael were competing in one of their many friendly billiard matches. Michael was concerned with shooting the 8 ball in the pocket; Tom had had something else on his mind. After the games, he asked for her dad’s permission for her hand in marriage. He said “Of course” and immediately began to help Tom with the search for the ring. Days later, Michael took Marisa to the jewelry store and told her he had to fix her mother’s watch. He said if she wanted to, she could look at rings. The jeweler came over and asked if she wanted to be sized. He said “It’s important to know for when that day does come” and Michael said “Yeah… but not anytime soon. Tom hasn’t shown me any hints that he’s ready to propose.” The following week, Marisa thought her dad and Tom were going to play pool again, but they really had a trip planned to the jewelry store to buy the perfect ring. January 21, 2024. One day after their one year anniversary, Tom took Marisa to the restaurant they had their first date at, Due 360 in Summit, NJ. He preplanned with the waiter to get a table by the window and a life-changing dessert. After a delicious dinner of decadent tapas, the chocolate lava cake was finally served accompanied by the playing of the country song “I’m Yours” by Russell Dickerson. Attached to the cake was a photo booth strip of Tom holding signs saying “Marisa, will you marry me?” As she began to happily cry and yell out “NO WAY?!”… Tom told her that there are two most important days in a person’s life; the day they are born and the day they figure out why. The day he met Marisa was when he said he found out why. After saying YES!, both sets of parents that were waiting next door, came in to congratulate the newly engaged couple… AND THE REST IS HISTORY.