Wedding Date on Oct 19, 2018

How and when did you meet? What was your first date like? What did you feel about one another at the time? Bill and I met on an online dating app called Skout. It’s kind of a funny because Bill’s friend talked him into signing up, but more so as a joke to see what would happen. Little did he know he’d find his wife! When we started talking we had both just recently ended relationships. Today’s technology definitely makes it pretty easy to get out there and “meet” people. When you search on the app, you can add filters such as age, race, etc. I was obviously searching for guys my age or older, thinking they would be more mature. It was definitely not easy because most guys were only there for one thing, and they were blatantly obvious about it. I wasn’t on the app for too long before Bill messaged me. He never showed up on any of my searches because he is 2 ½ years younger than me, but I am so thankful that I showed up on his! We immediately hit it off, and I could tell right away that he was a genuine guy. He was intelligent, articulate, kind, and had an incredible sense of humor. He even fibbed a few times in the beginning of our conversation to judge my reaction (and probably because he wasn’t even serious about finding a decent girl on the app anyway). His first lie was that he was 4’11”. I’ll admit, I was super bummed, but my reaction was sweet as pie because he was such a nice guy. Of course he quickly admitted he was joking around, and I knew he was testing me. After he got a few silly white lies out of his system, we began to really hit it off and it was nothing but truth and openness between us from then on. Our first phone conversation lasted 5 hours. We would text all day, talk on the phone a lot at night, and skype here and there. We talked for about a month and half before we actually met in person. We had some cool coincidences that made it feel even more like fate. For example, I love taking photos and shoot mostly nature and landscapes when I do, but I had a picture I took in Philly that I loved and shared it with Bill. He lived in south Philly at the time, and I thought he might enjoy it. Turns out, the photo I took was a picture of an apartment building he lived in a few years back. It’s even possible that he was in that apartment when I took the photograph. Now, THAT IS CRAZY! We both kind of freaked out about that – haha. Another coincidence is that we both drove manual Subarus. We finally decided to meet up in the city at his apartment before going out to grab a drink. My sisters thought I was crazy and they told me to meet him in a public place. I’m too brave to a fault sometimes, but I truly trusted Bill, even if I hadn’t met him yet. He was waiting for me on the corner of his road and Broad St. in south Philly. I had to park blocks away and walked towards him for what felt like forever! I was nowhere near as nervous as he was, though. We greeted each other with a hug and went into his apartment quickly to use the bathroom and head out. I met his roommate while we were there (we actually just attended his wedding in June where Bill was a groomsman). We left his place ended up getting food and drinks at 2 different places in the city. Our nerves settled quickly as the conversation flowed so naturally. He tells me now that he could tell I was into him because I was leaning towards him over the table as I was talking – haha! We were having an amazing time but it was time to grab a cab back to his place. We walked out to Broad Street and waited for a cab to come by. While we were waiting, and hardly even paying attention to cabs, we had our first kiss! I’m not even sure who made the move, I think it was mutual. ☺ I knew I wanted to see him again, and I did! I think it was just 2 or 3 days later. From there it just continued to blossom! How did you know your partner was the one? This is a tricky question, because I definitely can’t pin-point a specific moment that I knew. I had an amazing feeling about our relationship from day one. I had ZERO red flags, which is unheard of. Also, my family just adores him! Bill is the most intelligent, mature, kind-hearted, driven, and passionate guy I’ve ever met. We truly are two peas in a pod. Even to this day, 4 ½ years later, we barely ever fight. When we do, we never yell at each other, and we get over it quickly. It is so refreshing to be in a healthy relationship with open communication and mutual trust. Bill has helped me become the best version of myself. He is supportive in everything that I do, and together I know we can tackle anything that comes our way. We made the decision to move in together after dating for only 6 months, and as nerve-wracking as that was, I felt so calm and comfortable with our decision. Once we got past the honeymoon phase and everything was still smooth sailing, we were still so madly in love, and life was easy and happy with him by my side, I knew he was the one. He made me feel good about myself, I trusted him with all my heart, and I knew he would be an incredible husband and father. We both wanted the same out of life, and we knew we wanted to do it together. How did you decide that you would marry each other? Do you have a proposal story? It wasn’t very long into our relationship before Bill and I started talking about marriage. I was very upfront and honest with him that I wanted marriage and children in my future, and he was definitely on the same page. I couldn’t pin-point an exact time that we knew it was definitely going to happen, but I’d say we were together less than 2 years before I knew he would propose. Leading up to the proposal, Bill had me looking at different rings online to give him a sense of what I wanted. I wanted to be surprised, so I didn’t want to tell him anything too specific. We started dating in April of 2014, and Bill proposed on June 10th, 2017. June 10th is actually Bill’s birthday! We planned a nice day to celebrate his birthday up in Bucks County. We grabbed some sandwiches and headed to one of my favorite places, Peace Valley Park in Doylestown. We hiked through the nature trails for a while and finally stopped at a spot overlooking the creek where we could munch down on our food. We walked for a while before getting there and I was hungry, but Bill was adamant about finding the same spot we ate at when we hiked there in the past, so I went along without thinking much about it. I had my camera with me because I love taking pictures on my hikes and walks. Earlier on our walk, I asked Bill to take a picture of me because I never get pictures of myself. So when he asked me to pose for a picture before we ate our food, I didn’t think anything of it. I happened to be leaning on a tree looking down the creek, the opposite direction from where he stood. He said, “Stay there, let me get a picture.” I obliged. After taking a few pictures he told me to turn around, so I turned my head around to pose for a cute picture, and that’s when I realized he was down on one knee. It took my brain a few seconds to process what was happening, because never in a million years did I think he would propose to me on his birthday. I was elated! I knew it was coming, but he completely caught me off guard, which I told him would be a tricky thing to do! The ring was simple and beautiful, and exactly like I had pictured it would be. I was so thrilled to begin this next chapter in our lives. The plan for the rest of the evening was to go to see my family and have a nice home cooked meal to celebrate Bill’s birthday. My sister called me earlier in the day asking me to stop by the restaurant/bar her husband’s family owns because he wanted to give Bill a gift for his birthday, so we were going to swing by there before going to see my family. When we arrived at the restaurant to walk in and see my brother-in-law, we were greeted by both of our immediate families! Balloons, cake, flowers, and all of my closest loved ones traveled from different areas of the state to come celebrate our engagement, and my special guy planned the whole thing! I was in shock at first, but then my emotions quickly turned to happiness! I was greeting everyone and some were teary-eyed, but I tend to be a very emotionally strong person who doesn’t cry easily. That was, until I hugged my father. I immediately started crying! It was pretty cute, but I was just so happy and I’ve always been very close to my dad. We had an amazing night celebrating with everyone. Bill really made it so special and memorable! Describe your relationship. What are some things you enjoy doing together? Bill and I are so fortunate because we truly are best friends and two peas in a pod. We love being together and we never get sick of each other. I’m actually on my summer break right now (I’m a teacher at an 11 month school), and I get bummed when I wake up in the mornings and he is already gone. Although, he knows he has to kiss me goodbye in bed before he goes – haha. We are also very lucky that we rarely fight or argue, and when we do we are both quick to let it go. I think it’s very helpful that the two of us communicate very well about everything, which is probably why there isn’t much to argue about. We are open and honest with each other and we respect each other’s opinions. One of the things we love doing together on a daily basis is cooking. Bill enjoyed cooking before I met him, but I have definitely helped him expand his horizons a bit. For example, he HATED olives when we met and now he LOVES them. We have cooked so many different things together. We are constantly trying new recipes and perfecting our skills. Sometimes we even get disappointed at restaurants when we know we can make better food at home. Especially with our trusty cast iron skillet! We love cooking spicy foods, ethnic foods, and anything that has complex flavors and gets our taste buds going. We work very well in our tiny kitchen together and it’s always nice to sit down together and enjoy the final product. Another thing we love doing together is being outside, whether it is a beach, a lake, or a good hike in the woods. There’s nothing better than being with family and loved ones and enjoying a trip to somewhere relaxing and scenic. We are both very close to our families and love spending time with them. Peaceful and private hikes/walks with Bill are my favorite, though. He even proposed to me in one of my favorite parks in Bucks County (Peace Valley Park). Bill and I are also both gamers. It’s not something that consumes our lives, but we enjoy playing games together, both board games and video games. Bill is seriously the master of Scattegories. I honestly don’t think I have EVER beaten him! We have a whole bunch of board games, word games, etc. We always bring them with us on family vacations and try to get everyone to play. Sundays at home in the fall are some of my favorite days - music playing, drinks in hand, football on the TV, and games with Bill! We love our little home we have built together and cannot wait to own one of our own someday soon. One last things, we do love Netflix and our shows we enjoy watching. We are both obsessed with The Office and have probably watched the whole series through at least 10-15 times. We always try to quiz each other with random and difficult trivia questions from the show. Another show we love is Game of Thrones. Bill is trying to fit in the theme song somewhere on our wedding day, haha. Sometimes just lazing around being silly can be the best and more memorable times! Describe some traits, behaviors, etc. that you admire and respect about your partner? What do you love most about him or her? Bill is the kind of person that can strike up and hold a conversation with ANYONE. Even when he first met my family, I knew I could walk away from him and he would easily carry on conversation without any awkwardness. I admire him so much for that! People gravitate to him, especially people that have a hard time socializing with others, because Bill makes them feel so comfortable. He is also quite the comedian. He is always the one making his friends laugh when they are together. Some of the witty one-liners he spits out blow my mind. I always say, “How do you think of shit like that so quickly!?” I wish I had half his wit – haha! We have the same sense of humor, also. Our favorite TV show is “The Office”, and we have probably watched the whole series through at least 10-15 times. It’s our comfort show, our background noise show, and our go-to show when there is nothing else to watch. As many times as we’ve seen it, we can still crack up together at all the dumb things that Michal Scott says and all of the hilarious things Dwight Shrute does. Another thing I love so much about Bill is his passion. He puts 110% into everything that he does. If he decides to pick up a new hobby, he will research it until he can research no more. He wants to learn everything and anything about it, and he wants to practice until he perfects it. If we buy something new that he is excited about, he will want to set it up immediately after getting home (speakers, furniture, electronics, etc.). He is so driven to be the best he can be, and I love him so much for that! Even with his work, he just recently got a new job because he is so driven to succeed and will not allow himself to get complacent. He knows his worth and he likes a challenge, and he will continue to push forward to make sure he is always learning and bettering himself. I also love that Bill plays guitar and loves music as much as I do! We have a very similar taste in music, and listening to music is one of our favorite things to do when we are hanging out. We also love watching NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts and finding new musicians to listen to. Every once in a while we will mess around with his recording equipment and have a few drinks and record some music. Hopefully one of these days I will learn an instrument besides flute (I only playing from 4th-8th grade so I’m not great haha) so I can play music with him. I also need to push him to record more, because he really has a talent for making his own music, but feels bad when I can’t be as involved in the creation process. I love how talented he is and how he can listen to a song and pretty easily pick it up and start playing along. He still amazes me more every day. Lastly, I love how Bill makes me feel. He is loving and appreciative, supportive and loyal, and I trust him with my whole heart and soul. He makes me feel good about myself. He makes my heart happy and my mind calm. It doesn’t matter where I go, familiar or strange, I feel home with him. He is my best friend! Cliché, I know, but it’s true. What are you looking forward to in your future together? Children! Haha – kidding, it’s so much more than that! Although, I bet if you asked anyone what I’d say they would probably say children. He knows I’m dying to start a family with him. And although he is nervous, he knows he will be a great dad and we will be a kick-ass team! I also look forward to being able to travel and explore the world with him. I realize I will have to sacrifice some of that early on having kids, but I plan on taking them with us on trips as much as possible! Looking into the near future, I am excited to buy a home with Bill and decorate and make it our home. We are both ready to get out of apartment living! Most importantly, I’m just excited to spend the rest of our days together, side-by side, conquering whatever the world throws at us because we are an incredible team. What type of work do you do? How does that impact your relationship? Are there ways you support each other with regard to your jobs? I am a special education teacher for kids with speech and language disorders at a private school, and Bill just got a new job as an assistant portfolio manager at an investment firm. I feel that my job has taught me a lot of patience, and I’ve also learned a lot about relationships and human behavior. All of these things help me in my relationship. I’ve learned how to react to certain situations to keep things as calm as possible, even when I may want to react in a different way. I think my patience has helped him to become more patient as well. The two of us are pretty good with not bringing much work home, but we always talk for a little bit about our day when we both get home from work. It’s good to be able to know what’s going on in each other’s work lives. Billy has supported the school I work out by volunteering for fundraiser events. He’s the best! We are both very supportive of each other in all aspects of our lives. What did your family contribute to you as a person? Will any/all of them be at the ceremony? My family is a huge reason I am who I am today. I have two younger sisters, Janelle – 29, and Leah – 25. My mom and dad split when I was around 12 years old, and we moved when my mom remarried when I was 14. My mom is now divorced again, but we are still very close to my step-dad and we all still hang out from time to time, even with my Mom. My dad lives in Chester county with his girlfriend (basically wife, they just never got married). Both of my parents are brave and adventurous people, which is definitely why I can be a little bit too brave sometimes. They are both fearless! I respect my parents for allowing me to make mistakes and learn from them. I had a lot of freedom and in the end I think it helped me become a well-rounded person. My dad is the most chill person you’ll ever meet, and luckily I inherited that from him. I am super laid back and I can get along with just about everyone. My mom is very kind and giving and has instilled in me a love for nature. Some of my fondest memories are going on nature walks with my mom and sisters. She has also taught me to appreciate eating whole foods and cooking as much as possible. My mom has always been an amazing cook, and luckily I’ve followed in her footsteps and continue to pass it on to my own children. My sisters are my best friends. I’ve always been a second mom to them. Being a big sister had a huge impact on me wanting to work with children and eventually becoming a teacher. My sisters are the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I cannot imagine life without them. My whole family will be at the ceremony, including my step-dad and my dad’s girlfriend. My sisters are my matron and maid of honor. I cannot wait! Is there anything you would like to share with me about the two of you that we haven’t discussed? I just cannot wait to marry Bill and begin this next chapter in our lives!! --- Background Information As you complete this questionnaire, understand that the more information you share, the better I am able to get a feel for you as a couple. You need not write a novel, but details are important. Hopefully you find this exercise enjoyable! Reflecting on what brought you both to this point in your lives can prove a happy reminder of why you have chosen to marry your partner.  How and when did you meet? What was your first date like? What did you feel about one another at the time? The two of us met on an online dating app. The phone app had a sea of people to talk to, but as soon as I started speaking with Brie, it was abundantly clear I found something special. We talked for hours and immediately felt a closeness that takes most couples months to build. On our first date, Brie drove to Philadelphia to meet me for dinner. We still often joke that she was “Brave” Brie, getting herself into a potentially precarious situation, but she felt quite confident I was a trustworthy person. Spoiler alert, she was right. She could tell that I was extremely nervous, but she made me feel a sense of calm that quickly swept that anxiety away. We tried to go to one of my favorite restaurants in the city, Audrey Claire, but the wait forced us elsewhere. We spent the rest of the night enjoying food, drinks and conversation until 2am. It didn’t quite matter where we were to be honest, we stumbled upon something great. I remember the conversation flowing naturally, like we have known each other for years. I will always remember the way Brie leaned in towards me on the other side of the table. She was interested in everything I had to say and I could tell this date would only be the start of much more. Later in the night, I took her to my favorite college bar where we shared hot wings, a great food to eat on a first date! The night ended with our first kiss on Broad Street while we waited for a taxi to take us home. She left that night, but we quickly made plans to meet again soon. How did you know your partner was the one? As one can probably gather from the first date, we grew quite close quickly. We made a rash decision to move into together after only a few months of dating. The two of us entertained the idea of getting separate apartments, but we knew it would be financially prudent to find one together. We rented a two bedroom apartment on the odd chance it wouldn’t work out, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions we have ever made. I started to see just how special our relationship was. We got along so well and grew closer with every decision we made as a new couple. Brie quickly made our new construction feel like a home. I remember cooking dinner together every night and enjoying each minute we spent together. The apartment was always filled with laughter, music, a mix of our things so naturally strewn together and the aroma of a home cooked meal. In all of my years in Philadelphia, I never felt I truly replaced my family homestead in Scranton until I started my life with Brie. Our personalities melded so well together and her inherent caretaking nature made me feel home, with her. I knew very early on that she would be the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I saw proof every day that she would make a fantastic wife and future mother, both immensely important to me. How did you decide that you would marry each other? Do you have a proposal story? Over the years, everyone watched our relationship grow and they had the opportunity to see just how great of a couple we really were. The wedding bells were tolling from all angles, her family, mine, and friends alike. Everyone knew it would happen, they just could not wait to hear the “when” and “how”. I searched diligently for the perfect diamond that would capture at least a tenth of what our relationship represented. After my tireless search, I found the perfect ring, but needed to find out how I was going to unload this bomb. As I mentioned, everyone knew it wasn’t long until we would be engaged, so I had to disguise my own birthday as a chance to do something “spontaneous”. We decided to go hiking at a park where we spent one of our first dates. Brie was adamant that I wasn’t to take my raggedy old backpack along for the trip, but I insisted it must come. The backpack was of the utmost importance, I needed a way to house the aforementioned bomb. We grabbed some lunch on the go and away we went to Peace Valley Park in Bucks County. We hiked trails while Brie took pictures with her camera and I sweat it out the entire way. I needed to find a way to get this ring out of my backpack and onto her finger, but I wasn’t sure when the opportunity would present itself. We finally arrived at a creek we initially ate lunch at years ago as a new couple and I knew this is where I would propose to Brie. As I plotted my big reveal, a random woman walking around with a camera decided to strike up a conversation, much to my chagrin. I don’t think my body language could have been any louder that I wanted her to leave. As she finally left, I told Brie I would take pictures of her by the creek. She turned into the sun, as to take a “candid” shot, but when she turned around I was on one knee with the camera in one hand and a diamond ring in the other. My big surprise wasn’t over. I secretly corralled both sides of our family to come and celebrate our engagement and my birthday. It was the first time families met each other and I thought it would be a special moment to share with everyone. Brie and I were lured to her sister’s restaurant, for what Brie thought was a birthday gift waiting for me. Much to her surprise, she found both sides of our entire family waiting for our arrival. It was one of the happiest moments of my entire life. There was so much love and happiness, I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way it all turned out. Describe your relationship. What are some things you enjoy doing together? Brie and I can do absolutely anything and nothing together. We are two of the happiest people just being in each other’s company. I feel many couples try to fill a void by planning trips and adventures, but the two of us can happily spend forever together with minimal effort. I cannot wait for the end of my day when I get to see Brie. She still greets me when I get home from work like it is the first day that we ever met. Regardless of what happened that day, she puts an immediate smile on my face when I see her. We spend a lot of time with both sides of our family, as that is very important to us both. Whether it be family vacations or just a weekend in Doylestown or Scranton, we find we are happiest surrounded by those that we love the most. On our own, Brie and I cook dinner almost every night together. We have learned to embrace our small kitchen as a way to be closer. We will always follow that with a funny movie and dessert. What makes our life so easy is the commonalities we have as a couple. We love the same music, movies, food and share the same aspirations. Everything we do together, big or small, is always a joy. I am the one in the relationship with all of the hobbies, yet Brie always finds a way to make them better. Whether I am recording music, brewing beer or working on DIY projects, she is always there to help and enjoy it alongside me. She is going to be my future wife, but more importantly to me, my best friend. Describe some traits, behaviors, etc. that you admire and respect about your partner? What do you love most about him or her? Brie has countless traits that I admire about her, which is why I was so attracted to her from day one. One personality trait that sticks out to me as my favorite is her genuinely sweet and loving nature. Every day she starts her day with such a positive and cheerful attitude and it is intoxicating to be around. I tend to be more analytical and pessimistic with my views, but she has helped to show me the lighter side of life. She always sees the best in people and situations, which makes life easier to handle at times. Her approach on life has a carefree and bubbly tilt that helps balance my anxious ways. I admire her ability to tackle the world with not one ounce of anxiety or fear. The opportunity to be around that every day for years has quelled most of my fears and helps me to be a better person. A close second is her virtue of patience. I have never come across a person with such an ability to keep her calm and composure in any situation. Her line of work requires her to have the utmost patience, but she makes sure to carry that into every aspect of her life. I have so much to learn from her when it comes to that. Even if I go out of my way to jokingly get under her skin, it still does not phase her, albeit maybe some times it does, she just doesn’t let on. She always continues to amaze me every day with her intelligence, humor and strong work ethic. I am not quite sure how all of these wonderful personality traits came together so brilliantly in one person, but I find myself recounting how lucky I am to have found her. I can talk with her about absolutely anything and although she might not think she is funny, I constantly find myself laughing at the ridiculous things she says. She knows the perfect balance between being goofy and serious. She will laugh at the most guttural jokes and in the same breath quell any serious situation with her wit and level headedness. I can continue to drone for pages about every positive personality trait Brie possesses, but I would be hard pressed to fill even a sentence of bad traits, and I would wager most, if not all, would agree with me. What are you looking forward to in your future together? I think both of us can agree that we look most forward to starting a family and a life together. We have built such a strong foundation and relationship that is the perfect to build a family upon. We support each other’s dreams and aspirations while also sharing the same goals. We always bring the best out in each other and I think we will always challenge the other to be the very best versions of ourselves. Brie’s personality lends her to be the perfect woman for motherhood. I was blessed in that I had loving parents and it was always my priority to find a mate that would help treat our children the same way I was treated. I have no hesitation or anxieties about Brie filling that role. In fact, at times I feel as though she will be even a better parent to our children than me. It is not a slight to myself, but rather a true endorsement of her nurturing personality. The two of us find success in life much easier with the support of each other. The daunting process of newborns, a first home and balancing that with working in our careers seems much less stressful if we are both in it together. I couldn’t find a better person in the world to share these best of times and worst of times. What type of work do you do? How does that impact your relationship? Are there ways you support each other with regard to your jobs? I work in the investment industry as a Portfolio Manager and Brie is a Special Education Teacher. Our jobs couldn’t be any more different. Both have their pressing and stressful situations, albeit in much different ways. When we come home and compare war stories, the stark contrast between how we spend 9 to 5 is readily apparent. We both agree, we could not take more than five minutes if we decided to switch roles. But with these diametrically opposed professions, we find great balance leeches into our personal lives. My profession has taught me to be both analytical and well researched, which lends me to take care of our financials. Brie couldn’t be any happier with me taking the reins on that. Luckily, I most of my hobbies are very creative in nature. I always said, I pay the bills with the left side of my brain and live life with the right side of my brain. At times, work can become quite hectic, but I always find solace in being around Brie. She backs me away from the cliff and always helps to pacify any stress from work I might bring home. She has kept me humble in the ego filled world that is the finance industry and for that I will forever be grateful to her. My personality always lends me to keep pushing forward, but having Brie to keep me anchored will immensely help me for the rest of my career. Brie’s profession has taught me so much about her field that I never knew. I, like most, had a diluted view of what it really meant to teach children with special needs and Brie has done an excellent job of opening up my world to everything these children have to offer. I admire Brie for the passion she has for her students. She makes the world such a better place not only for me, but for all of these children and their parents. At times, her selfless actions make me question my own place in the world, as I know I could never give back even a percentage of what she does for the world on a daily basis. Although cliché, I will say, she is quite the hero. What did your family contribute to you as a person? Will any/all of them be at the ceremony? My family has been absolutely pivotal to both my personality and my life accomplishments. I owe my parents a million times over for the support and love they have given me. My childhood was such a loving and fond memory I will forever cherish. They continue to support me even to this day. They are willing to talk about everything I have to say and they genuinely listen to every word I say with such intent. They are always interested in my life and have been such a great outlet when times weren’t so wonderful. My sister has also always been my biggest advocate. She is always so proud of all of the accomplishments I have gained throughout my life and she was usually the first one in line waiting to give me the biggest hug after every one. I love them all so dearly. I have been so blessed because as I started to branch out from my childhood, I started to see that so many people did not have the same experience. I hear such horror stories of parents and family that were never there for them and I owe anything I have or will do to the love my family has given me. My mom, dad and sister will all be at the wedding. Although all of my grandparents have unfortunately passed away, the one that has left the biggest impact as both a person and man is my grandfather. His loving personality, sense of family and seemingly unlimited knowledge molded me to be the person I am today. He was the glue that held the entire family together. Everyone gravitated towards him and he gave each and every one of us the same attention and love, until he had nothing left. He showed me the proper way to treat every person you come across. Although he was a devout Catholic, he never pressed his ideals or beliefs on anyone, but he made sure to live out what he was taught. I am not the biggest advocate for organized religion, but his actions showed the absolute best traits anyone can hope to retain from the Catholic Church. Although, he would always say, “Keep it up and you’ll have to stand in line forever at the pearly gates, I will get called right to the front!” My soft spot and emotional side comes directly from him. He showed it was okay to be a tough guy with a heart. Even my career was heavily influenced by him. I have memories of him coming to our house and he would immediately put on a channel with the stock market prices flashing across the screen, as he was an avid investor. My mother always tells me he would be so immensely proud and jealous of my current role as it was his dream job. Our family lost a huge piece of what made us who we are, but my entire extended family is the first to say how I was made in his exact likeness, a compliment I do not take lightly. My only regret is he did not have a chance to meet Brie, but I know in my heart that he would love her possibly just as much as I do! Is there anything you would like to share with me about the two of you that we haven’t discussed? I hope this sums up our relationship well. I am sure Brie’s version is even stronger than mine, but I assure you we are both madly in love with each other. We are very excited for you to join us in our wedding. Our emotions are obviously very strong and I hope we can capture that in our ceremony!