Her Story:

I knew who he was, but he did not know who I was. Pat and Jim’s older brother and the cute older guy that worked at CVS. I remember him always wearing light wash wranglers and all the girls would line up to check out at his register.

July 2020, as I was finishing nurse practitioner school and single. I was feeling confident one afternoon and decided to “heart” Richard’s photo after scrolling through profiles on my new “dating app”. My “heart” struck up a conversation and that lead to our first date. Richard picked me up to go to the Essential around 7:00pm and by midnight we were the last couple there pushing our food around. We had covered every topic possible, including my desire to elope abroad one day.

Fast forward to July 2022 and Richard is on one knee in the Bahamas. It was one of the most memorable nights of my life! We then started planning our wedding in Italy and I feel like dreams truly do come true.

Richard is a one-of-a-kind human. The kind of person you often do not come across. After breaking his neck and being paralyzed from the neck down, he made it his mission to walk again and participate in all the hobbies that he previously took for granted. He never let his injury stop him or be the excuse for why he cannot accomplish a given task. Everything is 10x harder for Richard than the average person, but he is not the average person and that is why I fell in love with him. I am so excited to get to marry the best human i know and my very best friend in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

One of our first and most coveted connections is our love for travel (as you can see in our photos we have done a lot of that!). We can't wait to celebrate this special day with you all in the upcoming months/days!

His Story:

In 2016 after my spinal cord injury, the challenge between belief and doubt that was greater than any other I had ever imagined, had suddenly became my life. My beliefs towards physical rehabilitation never waivered off path towards achieving what it was I wanted and needed more than anything before: To walk again. But, as I poured belief into my capabilities and achievements, a doubt festered within me: Will I ever be loved again?

After 4 years of physical and mental rehabilitation, I had become confident enough to attempt dating. I felt a massive weight of doubt upon myself with all the issues and physical challenges I face in everyday life. My mind had convinced my heart that as soon as someone truly understood my problems and saw how hard my life every day is, that they would not want to be with me.

All that doubt was lifted the day I met Hannah.

From the moment we began talking to one another I knew Hannah was unlike any other woman I had met before. Our initial conversations were never surface level chatter, but in-depth personal discussions towards who we are and who we would like to become, and where we would like to go in life.

Even from that very first date together at the Essential, it was if Hannah knew before ever meeting me that all I wished for was to be treated as a normal person, as if I had not broken my neck and was not rendered with neuromuscular issues from my spinal cord injury. And from that very first date she has always treated me and acted towards me as if nothing had ever happened. This untold desire to be loved as a normal person came naturally to Hannah without forewarning, which to this day has only made me love her more for who she is at heart.

Hannah’s heart is made of gold, her mind is more determined than any person, most importantly her beauty is so simply elegant and stunningly gorgeous that even she can’t even believe what I see, but the reason why I fell so hard for Hannah, and continue to do so to this day, is because Hannah is a completely different person than I am. We collectively enjoy many of the same comforts and experiences, but from our differences we both have brought totally new and unknown comforts, experiences, ideas, and adventures into each other’s lives. As the old saying goes “opposites will always attract” absolutely hit the nail on the head when it comes to Hannah and myself.

Every day is a new, exciting and different day when I am with Hannah, and I am excited for every single new and different day for the rest of my life with her!

H&R

We're Eloping to Italy!