Cassie’s perspective:
I moved to Pawnee for the first time in 5th grade, then moved away the beginning of 6th grade. Although I don’t have many memories of Clay during that time period, facebook messenger says otherwise. I probably messaged Clay for a whole year before receiving one response back (and now he won’t let me live that down). I ended up moving back to Pawnee in 8th grade and this is where Clay started to strategically pick his desk during classes. Any class Clay and I had together, you can bet he was sitting right next to me. Trying to play footsie during science, or asking for pencils in history or even asking for paper during math because Clay was never prepared. It came to the point teachers would ask me to go out for various extracurriculars because they knew Clay would follow. Fast forward a few years, post graduation and like clock work, Clay would call every couple months to catch up and remind me he was still around for the better half of 4 years. We’ve had like 12, first dates, 11 of which ended with us going separate ways. I believe God knew we needed each other, but when it comes to two stubborn people, it took some time.

Clay’s Perspective:
Cassie and I went to school together. She moved to Pawnee City when we were in 5th grade. She would message me and always try to talk and I gave her the cold shoulder. She moved away for a couple years and came back sometime in Jr High. This is when I realized how beautiful she was and I was absolutely hooked. I would try everything to be near her. I’d sit by her in class, ask her to help me with homework. She secretly was in love then, because I noticed her big smile all of the time and she was always looking right at me. We talked on and off throughout high school and nothing really ever transpired. Jump to a couple of years out of high school and college, and I would start to reach out to her again. I used to travel a lot of the midwest auctioneering for my job, so I liked to call friends and family on my trips while I drove to check in. One of those people I would always call was Cass. We’d talk for an hour or so on the phone every month or two just catching up. I knew in my heart that I wanted to be with this sassy, fun and loving lady! December 2022 is when our LAST first date took place. I remember picking her up and being super nervous because I knew I wanted to make a go at things with this girl. I remember finally calming down after she reached her hand out and from that moment I knew this would be the start of something great. We kept dating into the spring and summer and things got pretty serious, fairly fast. It was one of those “when you know, you know” type of situations and so I asked Cassie to marry me and make me the happiest man alive on September 9, 2023! (Best decision of my life). We now reside in rural Steinauer and I can’t wait to make this woman my wife!