Kelly's Story

We met on 7/29/2022 at a singles night at Bark Social. Erika let me know that there was a singles event occurring but that she already had plans so couldn’t go with me. I found a friend able to go with me and took Finn to the event. After some games and ice breakers I took Finn out to the main area and was approached by Paul. He said “I feel like I know you”. I didn’t recognize him so asked if he worked at the hospital I work at. He let me know that he is an auditor and not from the hospital and I said then it must be from a dating site.

We got to chatting and somehow sign language came up and I shared that my first degree was in deaf studies and he shared that both of his parents are deaf. Though rusty, I was able to to sign a bit and that ended up being captured in the photo of us.

Numbers were exchanged and I ended up texting him later that night to share the photo of us that bark social posted on their social media account. He asked me on a date and then fast forward to September 9th 2023 and he proposed at Bark Social.

Paul's Story

I had just got my dog Skipper vaccinated and wanted to go to Bark Social to unwind and catch up with my friend Renata. We both registered for the singles night, but had no intention of playing the games or chatting people up as we just wanted to catch up. However, I saw Kelly through the window and something deep down told me I knew her and I needed to talk her. Kelly had stepped out into the open play area and I decided to approach her and strike up a conversation. We immediately had chemistry and decided to exchange numbers.

Over the next few weeks we couldn't seem to get enough of each other and went on multiple dates per week. Eventually, we decided to make things official and since then we have been going on dates. going to shows, hanging with friends & family, and introducing each other to new things and experiences.

We went on a two week long trip over the summer to Peru & Mexico and had an amazing adventure together. Immediately after returning from that trip we had to deal with the stressful situation of rushing Finn to an animal hospital to treat his sudden life threatening case of bloat. We had managed to get him to the hospital quickly, but the next 24 hours was the deciding factor of if we managed to do it in time. Thankfully the surgery to correct his bloat was successful and he was released back into our care. Kelly decided to stay at my house for the next week so that she was just 5 minutes from work and I could keep an eye on a recovering Finn.

Over that week I reflected on both our trip and how we dealt with Finn's emergency situation. I realized that through the ups and downs of it all we were both there for each other, when one of us was weak the other would step in to be the strong one and carry us through. I had never had that feeling in any previous relationship and asked myself what else did I need to see. So it was during that time, to the dulcet tones of Finn terrorizing the whole house while I worked because he had to wear a cone, that I decided I would propose to Kelly.

We ended up back at Bark Social and it was there, where it all started on a chance encounter, that I decided to ask Kelly to marry me.