We grew up only 6 minutes away from each other.


Our families were friends, we graduated high school together, and yet somehow we managed to pass by each other for 20 years with only a handful of brief interactions. On paper this may seem ridiculous, but for anyone who knows us this may not be so surprising. While Chase was riding his bike all over town, Meg was comfy at home reading Twilight for the 6th time. While Chase was running for student council, Meg was extremely invested in the whereabouts of One Direction members. Chase was an athlete, Meg was absolutely dominating at Mario Kart Double Dash— the one Mario Kart game Chase has never beat Meg in.


That’s not to say fate never swirled our paths a little. We’ve found evidence of us hitting the same piñata at Ashlyn’s 2nd birthday party, a group picture from middle school promotion clearly displaying our respective confidence levels, a piggy-back race which we obviously won, and one fever dream memory of us running into each other at Stonehill while Meg was visiting a friend and drunkenly yelled “WOAH! ITS CHASE LEMAY!! 06413!!!”


It wasn’t until after we graduated college that our paths would cross again and remain intertwined.


Chase had started a job at the Valley Shore YMCA (fully endorsed, sign up now!) where Meg’s mom is the Director of Finance and Administration. Meg’s mom sent out an HR email to introduce and welcome Chase to the staff and wrote the following:


“I have had the privilege of knowing Chase for years as he grew with my kids and we are very fortunate Chase took a short stop on his career path and international travels to provide his enthusiasm, optimism and love of adventure with our campers.”


Chase, who’s aforementioned path had crossed with Meg very little, thought “uhhh who?” It wasn’t long after that, that Chase ran into Meg at the designated Clinton high-school reunion hotspot, The Deck, and the story of forgetting Meg’s entire existence became the perfect ice breaker to jumpstart a friendship that quickly turned into something more. That short stop on Chase’s career path to the YMCA turned into an adventure that we never could have imagined.


In the years since, we’ve moved from Connecticut to California, from California back to Connecticut, and are now settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Here, we care for our handful of a dog Brandy, play a lot of video games, try to avoid stepping on cacti, and eat Christmas burritos (IYKYK) every week. Meg works for an agency that supplies basic needs to families in lower income schools. Chase will give you a different answer about what he does every time you ask, but we can just assume he’s having fun.


In the end, everything that kept us apart growing up has provided the balance in our relationship that makes us work so well. We grew to be the right people for each other when we were both ready for our right person. We are so excited and grateful to celebrate finding and choosing each other with all of you Friday, June 13th, 2025!