This story began in November 2020, at a friend’s birthday party…

Mike had an irresistible mustache that night and Maria looked gorgeous. He started to talk to Maria and discovered she was from Brazil. He couldn’t help but tell her all his stories about when he lived there, as a kid for a few years. Maria had a party to go after that birthday and Mike, knowing that there would be some EDM, promptly joined her and her friend. They had a great time and their amazing adventure together began.

Shortly after the 2021 Ohio State game, Maria's first football game ever and the first time Michigan had won in (a long time), he knew that fate was giving him a sign and he began planning. For the proposal, Mike picked a date in April before the Texas heat would get too high since he knew pants and a long sleeve shirt were going to be needed, and so Maria's sister would already be gone.

The day ended up being perfect and they could take Maizey to their favorite park for taking a walk through uptown and luckily there were no squirrels as she prepared to secretly grab the ring from behind a bush as she fetched a ball from Mike's friend Neal. When Mike threw the ball behind the bush and Maizey came back out with a new collar and handkerchief, Maria was more worried that a stranger gave her something rather than reading what was on the collar as well as attached to it thanks to Neal's nimble fingers. But as Mike started getting down on one knee it finally dawned on her and the rest was history.