It’s the fall showcase extravaganza for students in the Next Up after school program at Henderson Middle School. Cullen stood off by himself, feeling somewhat like he should have made his kids play “foot down” on bikes in front of their peers during this end-of-semester performance. Emily stood in the back, having shown what was without a doubt a hilarious and heartfelt slideshow of Blue Sky Fund’s outdoor adventures with the students at Henderson. Emily noticed a strange James River Park System employee off by himself and invited him to join her Blue Sky crew, sparking a friendship that would slowly grow over the next few years.

These subsequent years of friendship included plenty of city-wide scavenger hunts, haunted house board games, and four square events put on by Emily. Their larger friend group faced the gauntlet of Covid-19 and emerged on the other side as a fun-loving, shenanigans-focused amalgamation of bing-bongs. With this foundation of laughs laid and the love of their community, time needed only pass for one friendship to change slowly into something more.

Halloween 2022. On the heels of a successful Skeleton Bike Ride, Emily donned her skelly suit for a Halloween party she knew Cullen would attend, hoping to woo him through a game of “stump” and dancing in a living room. After some time on the dance floor, Cullen, dressed as Lieutenant Jim Dangle “new boot goofin,” accompanied Emily to her bike. As the age old tale goes, a skeleton and a sheriff shared a kiss and the rest was history.

Soon after this Hallowed night, Emily and Cullen discussed their intentions while on a walk in Pony Pasture. They were honest and clear about one thing: they wanted to be friends no matter what. After another stolen moment in the hollowed out sycamore on their way out of the park, they could tell this was going to be more than just friendship.

They fell quickly and deeply in love after this moment and agreed to many adventures: escape rooms, paddling the Grand Canyon, a Vermont road trip, buying a house, and more putt-putt games than you can possibly imagine.

At the end of August in 2024, Emily and Cullen went on a walk around Emily’s childhood home. With a bouquet of fresh Three Graces celosia in hand, Emily and Cullen (and Petunia and Oslo) wandered off and agreed to be friends forever. Next, just a short walk from the spot of their engagement, they are excited to mark their life-long commitment to laughs, exploration, deep support, and love.