“I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you” – Paulo Coelho

Our paths crossed at St. Bonaventure University in Western, NY. Doug moved to Olean for a job, after growing up in Virginia. Mary first moved to Olean from Pittsburgh, for her undergrad. She loved her time so much, she decided to stick around to work on campus, too. Our relationship started in the simplest of forms, friendship. We both still remember the late nights of connecting and talking.

“Love is friendship that has caught on fire” – Ann Landers

As we learned more and more about each other it became clear, there was something here. Trips to Syracuse, Brooklyn, Corning, and Baltimore highlighted the early stages of our relationship. A lot of laughs coupled with conversations that got deeper into who we are, wanted to be, and how much we enjoyed supporting each other.

Fr. Ross, who is marrying us, foreshadowed what was to come early in our relationship, commenting to us one evening at church “how special a young lady must be to get a man to church.” Doug promises he went to church before meeting Mary, but the frequency certainly increased again with the new bond. We talked a lot about our spiritual journeys and would become involved at the Warming House (a soup kitchen in Olean, NY) together.

During the pandemic, we learned a lot about our relationship, meeting countless friends and family members on Zoom, tackling work challenges, and generally keeping each other sane in a world that was shut down. During that time, we spoke about what may be next for us. The Carolinas seemed to be an area we were both interested in moving to.

Doug landed a job in Florence, SC and with Mary’s support we decided it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. In December of 2020, we packed Doug up and moved him 700+ miles to South Carolina. Only flaw in our plan was Mary needed to finish up her master’s in the snow before heading south herself. So, long distance it was.

Being apart was less than ideal, for sure, but it wasn’t anything we couldn’t handle. Doug had a grand plan and Mary was fast tracking her master’s to move south as quickly as possible. In June of 2021, during a visit to see Mary, Doug proposed. Saturday morning, we went for a walk, which Mary thought was for Doug to see the updates on campus. But Doug knew it was “A Trip down Dougie and Mare Memory Lane.” Mary said yes in the Grotto on the campus of St. Bonaventure University, the very place we can trace our ‘us’ roots back to. In December of 2021, we moved Mary to Florence to be reunited.

We would not be the people we are, or the couple we are today, without the love and support from all of our friends and families, who helped us throughout the course of our relationship. We look forward to celebrating with you!