Clare and Kyle’s story begins at SEEK, a Catholic conference for college students, in 2022. While Kyle was on his way to grab a much needed cup of coffee, he heard a girl say something about starting at Caterpillar. Having recently accepted his offer, he turned around excitedly, “Hey! I’m going to be starting at Caterpillar too!”. After sharing some nice congratulations to one another, Kyle continued on his journey for coffee, without ever getting the girl’s name … Clare McNicholas.

While Clare and Kyle knew that they would both be working for Caterpillar starting the coming summer, they hadn’t discussed when they were starting. With a company of 100,000 engineers - worldwide - surely they would never see each other again. However, of the 5 different orientation groups that started that summer, Clare and Kyle started on the same day, August 1st, 2022. Clare noticed Kyle right away but was too nervous to say something. Kyle, likely busy looking for coffee again, was completely oblivious and they never spoke a word to one another. After orientation, Kyle went to Peoria, Illinois and Clare went to Lafayette, Indiana to officially start in their new jobs.

About a month after Clare and Kyle’s first day at Caterpillar, they both were invited to a “Day in the Dirt”, a week-long seminar where new hires got to drive Caterpillar dozers, backhoes, excavators and skid-steers. The conference was so exciting that Kyle did not need coffee, so during one of the break periods, Kyle noticed a beautiful lady standing by herself. He thought, “How could no one be talking to this girl? She’s beautiful!”. Kyle approached her, and they finally had learned each other’s names, WOOHOO! But the moment was brief and they were quickly swept away to the activities. At the end of the conference both had to go their sperate ways, but this time with a brief memory of their moment together.

Now Kyle and Clare had both been hired into the Caterpillar Rotational Program. This means that they would work with the team that hired them for a few months, then spend the next year traveling and working with other teams within Caterpillar. It was a great way to network, and an even greater way to travel. After starting with her team, Clare traveled to Tucson, Arizona in January of 2023 for a 6 month rotation. One month later, Kyle appeared in Tucson for a 3 month rotation. It became quickly apparent that both had come for one thing - hiking. Tucson, being surrounded by mountains, seemed like paradise to Clare and Kyle. They wanted to climb everything and anything - so it seemed just logical that they should do it together.

But eventually, the time had come, Kyle’s 3 months in Tucson were up and he traveled back to Peoria. In June, Clare went back to Lafayette and after a few trips to see one another, Kyle and Clare started dating on June 20th, 2023. The task seemed daunting, but both were determined that state lines and a 3 hour drive would not stop their adventures together.

On September 21st, 2024, Clare and Kyle got dressed up cute for a Saturday morning mass. After a quick stop for coffee, Clare and Kyle then did their favorite thing to do together, a hike. They headed out to Celery Bog Park in Lafayette and went for a little stroll in the woods. After reaching a beautiful outlook over a lake, Kyle got down on one knee and asked Clare if she would marry him. Friends hiding in the woods captured the moment and helped celebrate the recently engaged … and soon to be married.