How We Met
Rob and I met when he was a young beach-boy working on the Boardwalk in a t-shirt shop in Wildwood, New Jersey and i was a soon-to-be high school senior who was enjoying my last high school summer at the shore. He used a clever pickup line on me, which i was oblivious to at the time, which was “if you put my name on the tee shirt, i’ll give it to you for free”. So I accepted the free shirt. When I left Wildwood, I remember being very visibly upset and thinking how much I didn’t want it to end. Next thing I knew, we were talking a lot and he was the first person I would call with exciting news about college and I was the first person he would call on a bad day to cheer him up.
It was an easy fit, Rob and I, together because our personalities compliment one another. I was so happy I had run into my soulmate that summer and even happier he knew it too and didn’t let me go. We fell for each other so quickly despite the distance of him living in South Jersey and me in Pennsylvania, and then up in Connecticut soon for College. We made it through freshman year and he moved up to PA so we could be closer to each other. Long distance was tough but it taught us how to communicate and we learned so much about each other that year. The rest was easy; the trick was remembering distance was temporary and knowing we had each other’s backs through everything.
He’s not a hard man to love. He is selfless, fun-loving, trustworthy, honest, and witty and has such a light that draws people to him. I’m thankful we found each other that summer everyday that I get to wake up next to him.
how they asked
Remember that t-shirt shop where it all began? That’s where he did it. We went down to the shore for the weekend to celebrate my birthday which was earlier that week so we could enjoy the last couple days of warm, summer weather and eat at our favorite Italian restaurant in Cape May, NJ.
That day, my sister came down and we all went to the board walk to play games and ride roller coasters, all the while he had a ring in his pocket. We went into the t-shirt shop and he told me to pick out whatever I wanted to get made. So I picked out a sweatshirt and the man behind the counter held it up when it was all done so I could approve of the design.
Then he picked up another shirt, one that I didn’t pick out that said “It all started with a t-shirt” and it didn’t click in my head until he turned it around and the back read “Will you marry me” on it and Rob was down on one knee with the ring in his hand just smiling at me.
I was so surprised it took me a while to say yes but I most definitely did. I was so surprised and next thing I knew, there was mini champagne bottles and everyone was cheering. I was so happy, I felt like it was a dream and someone was going to wake me up.
He planned everything except that the song Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars was playing, but that part “was just fate”, Rob says.
