In the summer of 2016, Matthew joined an adult recreational volleyball team with Nashville Sports League. While playing on this team of individuals who had never met before, he became friends with Chris and Lisa Spencer. Chris and Lisa are an active married couple who can hold their own in nearly any sport against those half their age. They were kind enough to invite Matthew to play with them in the subsequent seasons with other friends. For the next two years, Matthew became close friends with Chris and Lisa after having spent time with them outside their weekly volleyball games. Finally, in the spring of 2018, Caitlin, their eldest daughter, joined the team. This is where Matthew and Caitlin were able to really connect. Over the years Matthew and Caitlin were aware of each other, but had never spent much time together. Their connection developed over weeks of playing volleyball together and going out for a post-match bite to eat with the team (read: Matthew's crush and her parents) for more time together. It was early summer when Matthew and Caitlin had their first date. A date that will not soon be forgotten! Brenna, Caitlin's sister, was happy to chaperone for the evening. That was June 2, 2018. Six months later, December 2, 2018, Matthew proposed to Caitlin.

Matthew and Caitlin knew from their first date that they had something special. Continuing to grow closer to one another throughout the summer, it was clear where they were headed. Both were ready to take the next step, a life long commitment in marriage. The only thing left to do was propose in an equally meaningful, heartfelt, romantic, significant, and spontaneous way. Matthew began planning in late October for the most spontaneous Sunday, December 2, 2018 anyone had ever seen. Several sly conversations about ring styles here, a couple casual mentions about Christmas tree decorations there, and nobody suspected a thing. Ordering an engagement ring in time to allow for shipping was no problem. Matthew also decided to order a custom glass ball ornament from Etsy with scrolls of paper inside. It seemed like a good idea at the time to include a scroll with the intended date of the proposal "December 2, 2018". Matthew had unwittingly thrown down the gauntlet at his own feet. How could he arrange for a Christmas tree decoration on a specific day two months in advance with no Christmas tree and no other ornaments to decorate? After a few trips to look at buying a new Christmas tree, it was obvious Matthew and Caitlin would need to ask her parents for their old tree in the attic. Once that minor detail was taken care of, Matthew masterfully set the stage for decorating the tree in early December. "You know, we should wait until December so it feels more like the season but we don't want to wait too long otherwise we won't get to enjoy it." However, Caitlin was unaware of the careful planning and timing that had gone into this simple act of decorating a tree. It took several oddly aggressive suggestions from Matthew for her to "go ahead and order" those ornaments in the week leading up to December 2. On Sunday, December 2, 2018, Matthew proposed to Caitlin. Handing her the custom ornament with a prominent scroll "Will You Marry Me?"