On September 21, 2016, William messaged Melissa on OkCupid. Melissa sees the message and looks at his profile picture. She sees a guy in sunglasses, smiling, with two thumbs up in front of an ad sign that said "This year thousands of men will die from stubborness". GREAT Melissa thought... "THIS is the picture you pick for your profile?!"......if only she knew what was in store for her that this ad was the true definition of her future husband.. STUBBORN! She decided to look at the message anyway. In the message it said "Hi there my name is Will! How often do you get to see broadway shows?". At that point, Melissa knew that she either found her new best friend or the love of her life..... but little did she know that she would later realize she found both. They continued to talk for the next 3 days online until Will finally asked the beautiful, out of his league, Melissa for her number.... and they have been talking ever since. They went on their first date on October 3, 2016 at Millie's Meatballs in Morristown NJ. It was the greatest first date that the two ever had.. despite Melissa being slightly late because she got lost (and that is when Will should have known that Melissa will be late to her own funeral). They talked the entire time and shared a pizza, some meatballs and a bottle of Joyvin wine. The date went so well in fact, that they decided to go bowling 2 days later to meet up again. After 3 dates, within a week, on October 12, Melissa and William had the talk... and decided that there was no need to talk to other people, because they only wanted to talk to each other.. and became OFFICIAL!

Leading Up To The Big Question: In May of 2021, Melissa completed all she needed to in order to graduated with her Masters in Teaching from Montclair State University. Will decided that Hawaii would be the perfect graduation present! Will pulled out ALL the stops including First Class there AND back, Pearl Harbor on Memorial Day, and swimming with dolphins! (If you would like a play-by-play of the entire trip, head to Melissa's Instagram highlights!). Little did Melissa know, that a couple weeks before they left, Will decided that this trip would be the perfect place to pop the question and that the luau on their last full day would be the perfect location to do it. The Proposal: It was June 5, 2021. The weather was gorgeous and sunny. The luau had breathtaking views of the sun getting ready to start setting over the water and there was a beautiful mountain in the distance. They decided to walk along the water soaking up the view and the Hawaiian breeze before the luau began. Walking behind Melissa, Will said, "So, was this trip everything you thought it would be?". Melissa continued to walk and replied. "Oh my goodness! Of COURSE it was. It's been perfect!". Will said, "Well hopefully this will make it better... Melissa?"...Melissa turned around and saw Will on his knee..... with a ring! She was completely shocked...so shocked in fact that it felt like Will was down on his knee for five minutes! Melissa kept saying "Oh my GOD" about a thousand times and then realized that she never gave him an answer! "YES! YES of COURSE yes!!" Melissa replied! It was the proposal beyond Melissa's dreams. They arrived on vacation as boyfriend and girlfriend, and left paradise as fiancés.