So I’ll just get this out of the way first, because I know Sean will mention it: I did indeed forget the first time I met Sean. Forgot him almost immediately. Whoops. Good thing I made sure he’d never forget me. Since I forget a lot and very easily, I tend to take notes on important things and have a camera roll filled to the brim with memories. From the “early days”, I have many notes saved on my phone that are just stories about Sean and how much I liked him (still do). So how did that start? Get ready because folks this is as short as I could make myself make this…

Picture this: it’s the Friday of your first week of college at Purdue and it’s the start of Blockbuster Weekend at St. Tom’s and you are PUMPED to make some Catholic friends. You are also freshman year me, with short pink hair (I kid you not), running around with your phone out forcing every freshman at the event to give you their number so you can make a group chat. This is how I obtained Sean’s number before I knew Sean was Sean. The first thing I learned about him (other than he’s Catholic, cute, and country) was his Slovene roots via the emojis I forced him to enter next to his name in my contacts. He was deep in conversation about country music with our friend Mina (who called we’d date upon our first meeting, so good job Mina) when I forced him to come join us in playing ultimate frisbee.

We spent that weekend together, partially because I lost my phone and he let me use his at the ministry fair, and once I heard he lived in Hillenbrand on the same floor as me (actually the door right across from me) I declared that he would be the one to walk me to church and back to appease my mother’s anxiety about me wandering around alone. I was definitely starting to fall for him, but I was unaware of that at the time.

To fast forward, because we all know I am extremely longwinded, thus started the age of the Abby-Sean friendship. We walked to church together, got meals at the dining halls together (while Sean commented on the music they played, such comments are in my quote book), and listened to each other’s music together. We also “studied” together but since I wasn’t in engineering yet, I was never focused and we always ended up just talking, analyzing songs, or hanging out with our friends on our floor. This included embarking on tiny adventures spurred by yours truly, like up to the McCutcheon parking garage to look at stars. He was the last one left staying with me and we laid on the cold top floor of the parking garage stargazing and talking about our childhoods… you know, as “just friends” do. At this point, I was definitely aware that I was head over heels for him, as I have found that entire week’s Sean-related experiences written in my phone notes.

Later that week, he asked me to watch one of his favorite movies with him (he was very sad I have never seen any Batman movies because he is convinced he is Batman). I thought this would be like that time we watched Borat (I was the only woman present with the rest of the guys on our floor and it was an experience) so I was like yeah sounds fun. Well, Batman movie night comes and it is just us, sitting in these big purple chairs in our study lounge on the floor, watching the Dark Night movie on Sean’s laptop. I have a detailed account of that night also in my notes where it’s described how we decided afterwards that it was a date, and that I “stood in my dorm for an hour doing nothing but thinking about it all” after jumping up and down in excitement.

So now, we can see that we both obviously liked each other (finally), but like any good sitcom, there is still some weird unresolved tension. I normally get through those episodes the fastest because I just want to see the relationship develop, so after a couple weeks of not talking much and weird interactions, I decided it was going to be up to Sean and God to figure out what we were gonna be. After I spent some time in prayer about it, we started talking again and had an extremely deep conversation in our signature place in Hillenbrand, the “solitary confinement room” as we named it. Sean asked me to dinner the next night but I had to rain check due to my schedule, but I brought him back a cookie that I decorated to look like St. Cecilia that night and wanted him to eat it. After talking in the hallway while he held his cookie for like an hour and our friend Spasko kindly told us to “get a room”, I invited him into my dorm, and mid me giving him a tour of every piece of decor on my side, he said “can I ask you a question?” Me: “Yeah, go for it”. Him: “Do you wanna be my girlfriend?” Me: “Yeah!” Him: “okay.” Me: “Anyway back to my decorations…”

And that’s how we started this whole thing. I was never planning to date freshman year, I even told my mom I wouldn’t. But my mom liked “Catholic Texas guy” as she knew him, and even met him twice before we started dating by complete accident. She gave me her blessing to date him and later both my parents gave this Catholic Texas guy their blessing for a whole bigger question, but we’re getting to that.

Now we’ve gone through years of growing up and maturing together, which is crazy. Had our first kiss, wrote my first song about him, went to our first dance together, first concert together, first rodeo together, first holidays together, to our first trips to each other’s homes, being in our first class together (when I switched majors), studying for the same exam together, all the way to our first going out to the bars together. It’s weird to look back to all those years ago when we met and see the people we’ve become now. I don’t know who I would have become without Sean, but it’s obvious I was meant to grow with him, through the good times and the tough times. We’re like this yin and yang, I’m the flower and he’s the leaf, he’s the mountain and I’m his meadow. I’ve grown into myself because God’s a good gardener and Sean is my companion crop.

And so, when Sean took me for a walk in the park on January 18, 2025 and I was excited like a golden retriever to be on a walk in the snow seeing squirrels, everything felt perfect. And when he got down on one knee, I was, and am, 100% sure we’re meant to keep growing together. We’re meant to be going to Mass and adoration together, going on walks, working out together, having deep theology talks, listening to music, dancing in the kitchen to fall jazz music, and making fun of that dumb pop version of Rocketman for the rest of our lives. I am also 100% sure it’s not going to be perfect because we’re two very broken, very imperfect people, but so is everyone else. But I am 110% sure that I still love Sean in all his imperfections and that he loves me the same way. And that and our faith and trust in God is all we need.

The day that Abby and I met each other varies if you ask us separately. I met Abby when I was walking down the hallway in my dorm with a friend when a very energetic girl ran up to us and asked us our names and introduced herself. A week later, Abby met me when she ran up to me at a church event and asked if I wanted to play frisbee. Later she introduced herself for the second time, completely forgetting that we had already met a week earlier and did in fact live on the same dorm floor. I do believe Mina Hunt predicted our engagement that day.


We spent the next few months walking to church together, going to dining halls, and hanging out in the Hillenbrand study lounge. Eventually, in early October, I asked her if she wanted to watch the Dark Knight with me. After that truly romantic evening, it was agreed that it indeed had been a first date.


About three weeks later and with a lot of not so subtle encouragement from her, I asked her to be my girlfriend in maybe the most awkward way possible. After that there were some more real dates and a lot of doing homework and listening to music together. Over the next two years I got to know all different sides of Abby, share many experiences, and grow in faith beside her. It all had its ups and downs but that period forged an indescribable love for one another.


The two and a half years were full of great memories and the infinite amount of bird noises Abby makes. I got to spend Easter with her family and immediately felt at home. The first summer she came down to Texas and learned what real heat is. I got to introduce her to all the classic movies that she had never seen and in return I learned about the Barbie movies. We went to our first football games, concerts, and so much more together. I helped her learn how to drink a healthy amount of water at a restaurant, and she taught me to trust people and all the sappy stuff.


People often ask me, when did I know I wanted to propose. The simple answer is I don’t know, the idea developed throughout dating and relatively early. However, I think the better question is when did I know I should propose. Again there is no specific moment and time when I knew the answer was now, but as my faith life deepened, I prayed about it, became a better man, and faced difficulties by her side, I knew I had no other option. Abby is someone I have grown to trust that no matter what is thrown at us in our years together, she will fight by my side, love me, and help point me to Christ.


The semester came when it was time to propose. My plan for a long time was to do it a few months later and on campus, however, the strong premonition that schoolwork would ruin the moment, changed my mind to do it in Muncie after the first week of school. That Friday, I tried to remain calm as the car had coolant issues on the way to Muncie. Thankfully, we arrived safely and Abby was none the wiser. The next day I dragged Abby away from her assignment to go on a walk in a park we love, Morrow’s Meadow. After completing a loop and listening to a great deal about squirrels, I gave her a short speech about questions, which she thought was a prank, and pulled out my great great grandmother’s ring.