How We Met
My 2016 New Year’s Resolution was to focus on self-love and finding my purpose in my career. I’d spent the few years prior over-investing in relationships and people who didn’t love me back. This was going to be the year of ME. On February 2nd of that year, I was set up on a blind date with Dana. After the fact, I found out that neither of us was really into the idea of dating someone but figured we’d give it one last shot.
We met for dinner at a restaurant that ended up having trivia so we decided to play! We sat right next to the host and she must have figured out we were on a date. She ended up helping us…just a bit….and we won! The prize was a gift card so we had the perfect excuse to have to meet up again! I laughed more on that first date than I had with anyone in my life and knew that our paths crossed at the exact moment it was supposed to!
How They Asked
My and Dana’s favorite holiday has always been Halloween. We love to go all out for our costumes (pictured) and host a big party each year for all of our friends. This year, I was in grad school and spent 3-4 days each week out of state for clinical so I didn’t have much time for planning the party. Dana told me he would get some pumpkins that we could carve as Jack-o-lanterns for our deck as decorations.
I drove home on 10/30/19 after the longest shift I had ever worked followed by an extra hour of traffic on top of my normal commute. I was exhausted, frustrated and ready for a meal. I pulled into our driveway and saw 10 small pumpkins lined up on our deck. Dana walked out to greet me on the deck as I started to walk into the house. As I did so, I thanked him for the pumpkins but told him I thought they were too small for carving….once I walked up the path I realized they were most definitely not too small! Dana has carved one letter spelling out “MARRY ME?” into each pumpkin.
I stopped dead in my tracks and immediately began crying! He called me over, got down on one knee and asked me the question I had been waiting nearly 4 years to hear!! After saying YES! (Of course) Dana surprised me yet again by pointing out a camera he had set up to capture the entire proposal! It was more perfect than I could have ever imagined, in the privacy of our own home, sharing the most special moment on our favorite holiday, marking the start of the rest of our lives and endless Halloweens together!
