Melissa and Michael's story goes way back for those of you who don't know. Their sisters (Caryn & Rose) are actually best friends from high school so they have always overlapped. They were supposed to meet back in 2008 when Melissa was visiting boarding schools. Michael was also in boarding school and was supposed to give Melissa and her family a tour around his campus - he ended up a golf tournament so it didn’t work out! They were always living very similar lives but just hadn't crossed paths yet. When Melissa moved to NYC post college she reached out to Rose who was president of a non-profit called Maloto (Maloto help's feed and educate children and women in Malawi Africa) to get involved. Fast forward two years later, Rose was planning a trip to Malawi to volunteer. Melissa of course signed up immediately and to her surprise Rose had persuaded her brother (Michael) to do the same. Long story short, Michael asked Melissa out on the last night of the service trip, she said yes, and they ended up sitting together the entire flight home. Michael even left his bag in the overhead bin because he was “distracted by Melissa's beauty.'" Maloto is a special part of their story and what first brought them together. Their first year and a half of dating was a bit of long distance. Michael was living in Morristown NJ while Melissa was in NYC so they did what they could to make it work. Wednesday's became their date night which normally consisted of dinner at Hillstone followed by Cask the local bar by Melissa's apartment - they had their 'classic' spot in the corner of the bar where they always sat. Then COVID happened. What were they going to do? They both lived with roommates and no one knew what was right or wrong during this time. Melissa went to live at home for about 5 minutes when Michael's amazing parents let them know they could temporarily move into their lake house in Green Pond NJ. Michael and Melissa quickly became Green Pond NJ's biggest fans. Kayaking was their form of transportation and they even survived a few winter storms and summer heat waves. Living together in the middle of nowhere during a pandemic brought Michael and Melissa closer than ever. What was originally temporary turned into 9+ months so they decided it was time to figure something else out. Why not move to Florida for a few months Michael suggested! They packed the car and drove down to Florida (they as in Michael drove the entire time while Howard Stern was on repeat.) This was their first time living in their 'own' place together - they were so happy! When the world started to go back to somewhat 'normal' they figured it was time to plan their next move. Since Melissa was a city girl and Michael was used to the suburbs they decided on Hoboken NJ. They have thankfully found a new corner spot at the local bar but there is definitely no Hillstone in Hoboken. Michael claimed he knew Melissa was the one when he first met her in JFK airport before the Malawi trip. Melissa took some time to warm up to the idea but obviously fell head over heels for Michael and couldn't imagine her life without him. Michael proposed to Melissa at the lake house in June 2022. Michael asked her if she wanted to go out on the dock to go fishing -- this is a normal thing for them to do so Melissa didn't think twice about it. To her surprise 30 seconds later Michael was down on one knee popping the question at their favorite place.