How We Met
Okay so it’s actually kind of funny. We thought we met for the first time when we were 13 and 14 years old. I (Lynne) was about to start high school in a few months and I got a pamphlet in the mail about joining the school’s drill team. They were having a summer session and I figured, why not? I decided that I’ll go and maybe meet some friends, which was very unlike me because I was super shy then and any group activities were torture for me. While I was there, I met Carolyn! We hit it off and she became my best friend. We were best friends throughout high school. There was a brief time where we didn’t talk because I moved to Germany and she went to college to study engineering, but we never stopped thinking of each other. We always missed the friendship that we had and knew we lost something special. Shortly after I moved back home from Germany, we started talking again and within a week I asked her out on a date. She instantly said, “YES!” I picked her up after coaching soccer and we grabbed coffee together. Coffee turned into sushi and then sushi turned into movies back at her place. It was probably the longest “first date” ever. We practically moved in together after the first date – we are a walking lesbian cliche, I know, haha. After that date, we were together every single day until I moved to New York to study at Columbia University. During one of my winter breaks home we were talking about our childhoods and we discovered that we went to the same daycare as kids. Turns out we played together when we were like 5 and 6 years old. A few weeks after that discovery, we found out that in junior high our schools held a joint orchestra concert. Turns out we rocked out on the clarinet and french horn that night together too. Throughout our whole lives we’ve crossed paths and known each other apparently! We’ve loved each other from the moment we became friends, and we are unbelievably happy and blessed to be marrying each other.
How They Asked
Saugatuck, Michigan is a special place for us and it holds a lot of memories. On the 4th of July we drove up to Saugatuck, which is a mini-tradition that we have. Once we got to Saugatuck, Carolyn stopped for gas at an old Shell station, and I ran in to grab waters. Once I got back, Care asked me to put the receipt in the glove box. I opened up the glove box and there was a handmade wooden ring box and a letter sitting inside. I gasped and slammed the glove box shut. In the moment I thought, “Oh god! She forgot she hid an engagement ring in there! Is her plan ruined?” Carolyn giggled and told me to open the glove box. I did and then I read the most heartfelt and beautiful letter. At the very end of the letter she wrote, “Will you marry me?” I still have the ring box that she made for me, and the letter is framed and hanging in our family room to see every day.
Since I (Carolyn) proposed to Lynnie, I wasn’t really expecting a proposal in return, but I should’ve known that she had something up her sleeve. We ordered my engagement ring together and it was scheduled to be delivered to our apartment in Champaign, Illinois while we were up in the suburbs visiting family for Lynne’s birthday. What I didn’t know was that Lynne called the ring company and had the address changed to her mother’s house. For Lynne’s birthday, I surprised her with tickets to see Hamilton since we are huge musical lovers. After we got to our seats, Lynne started telling me how much she loves me and how this is such a wonderful day. Then she said, “I hope this day can get to be even more wonderful for you” and then she pulled out my engagement ring. I was so surprised that I started crying. After Hamilton, we met up with her mom and sister at a Greek restaurant for dinner to celebrate. It was perfect.
Lynne has taught me how to know myself better and how to love myself better. She’s taught me how to see myself and my abilities. She’s enhanced who I am as a person.
Carolyn has taught me how to enjoy the little moments and the tiny details. I didn’t really notice the small things before, but now I love them and find so much life in them.
