Once upon a time, a woman named Emily Deter was finishing her college internship when she got a part time job at her local YMCA. On her first day she was told to “find Thomas Long, and he’ll show you how everything is done”. Emily eagerly tapped on Thomas’s shoulder, and when Thomas turned around the whole world may have disappeared for a minute. After realizing they both had smitten smiles on their faces, they got to work and accepted that being worker and boss forbid this instant connection. That didn’t stop them from flirting!

Emily and Thomas grew an incredible friendship over the years, having movie nights and drinks in town- eventually working as the same position at the YMCA, and their attraction continued to grow. After years of bothering their boss with their flirtations and silliness, Emily left the YMCA to start a new career and their forbidden relationship wasn’t forbidden anymore! 7 months later, they decided to make their budding relationship official!

Emily and Thomas' connection only continued to grow after they finally allowed their romantic feeling for each other to blossom. They moved in together during the height of the pandemic, in July 2020, and started to build their life together! While cooking, making traditions, and checking off movies on their constantly growing movie list filled their lives with so much joy, they knew one thing was missing. Emily and Thomas adopted their two cats, Marlon and Pumba, on the same day and life only got better from there!

After 4 years together, 3 vacations, 2 cats, and surviving 1 pandemic together- Thomas decided to pop the question and ask Emily to spend forever with him! Of course she said yes! The two celebrated their engagement with their families, and can't wait to celebrate their marriage with family and friends!