I first met Isaac one evening after my bible study in my sophomore year of college. I was attending UNO and living at the St. John Paul II Newman Center. Bible study had just finished so we all walked into the common area together to mingle. A friend of mine had just gotten done with his bible study as well, so I went over to his group of friends to say hi. My friend introduced me to Isaac who was standing right next to him, and my first impression of him was “Wow, he is really tall”. I was interested in this friend at the time so I stayed downstairs chatting with him for a few hours hoping to get a few moments to chat alone, but I never got a chance because Isaac decided he would stay to chat with us all night long. I learned a lot about Isaac that night. One thing I noticed was that he liked to talk even more than I do, which for those who know me well would agree that would be pretty shocking.

From that moment on, I saw Isaac hanging out a lot more downstairs and would say hello and have brief conversations but I always considered him to be a good friend. I ended up going out with our mutual friend for a few weeks and Isaac seemed to always be around to hang out with us. By now I had gathered that Isaac was interested in me, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. Shortly after our mutual friend and I went back to being just friends, I saw a lot more of Isaac. He seemed to be downstairs almost every time I was down there hanging out. He started coming up to me to start conversations more often and I really enjoyed our discussions. He was so easy to talk to and it was fun to be around him. On Palm Sunday he approached me after mass, but our conversation got cut short by the sea of people pouring out of the chapel, so I decided to text him that night and from there on out we would talk almost every single day.

The more I got to know him I started to fall in love with the way he talked about his faith. He inspired me to dive deeper into my relationship with Jesus and it was always so refreshing to talk to him about anything that was troubling me. We took many walks around the Askarben area and pulled multiple all-nighters downstairs by the fireplace in the common area of Newman just learning more about each other's interests and desires. I later asked him if he wanted to come with me to watch my sister Amanda’s track meet, and he said yes. After we got back home to Newman, Isaac was looking really nervous, so I asked him what was on his mind and then he asked “Would you want to go get a meal with me”? I wanted to laugh because I could tell that was not how he wanted that to come out, but I could also tell how much courage he mustered up to get those words out, so I said yes.

I met Melinda after bible study at the Newman Center. I was hanging out with my bible study guys and Melinda came up to our group to say hello to one of my friends. My friend introduced her to me and immediately my heart was captivated and I knew I had to get to know her. The three of us stayed up that whole night in the commons talking, little did I know that my friend was already interested in her and he had a head start on getting to know her. Realizing this I knew I had to play the long game, so I made an effort to hang out in the common area more often and attend as many Newman events as possible in hopes of getting to talk to her. Despite my efforts, she started dating my friend, but I was not deterred. I continued to hang out with the two of them as a professional third wheel. Fortunately for me, after a few weeks, my friend told me that they had broken up. Being the good bro that I was, I asked him if it would be okay with him if I pursued her and he told me to go for it. I began seeking out any chance I got to start a conversation with Melinda.

Our friendship started to flourish after Palm Sunday where I caught a glimpse of her beautiful long hair which helped me find her in the crowd. We started up a conversation, however, I quickly lost her in the crowd. To my surprise, I received a text from her that night and freaked out. I immediately called my best friend Konner to help coach me through replying to her. We started to text more regularly which turned into more hangouts in person. After many late-night talks and long walks around Askarben, I finally worked up the courage to ask her out on a date. I wanted to be very clear about my intention to go on a date. However, when it came down to it the only thing I managed to ask was “Would you want to go get a meal with me”?

May 6th, 2023

Melinda and I had "made plans" to hangout with our friends Konner and Madison the night of May 6th. I sent Madison over to Melinda's house early to make sure she was ready to go because she had made clear hints that she "had" to be wearing her yellow sundress if I purposed to her anytime that summer. My friend Konner and I then came over to Melinda's house to pick up the girls, and we blindfolded her and drove to Walnut Creek Park in Papillion where my twin sister Faith was waiting for us. By now, Melinda had very high suspicions of what was happening because Madison had asked her if she was happy with what she was wearing, and she caught on pretty fast after that. When we got there our friends helped me find a clear and private spot. I led Melinda down to a clearing by the lake when she was still blindfolded and she accidentally was led into a sharp branch that cut her leg open... oops. I told her to keep going though, and I finally got to take off the blindfold and surprise her with a bouquet of her favorite flowers. I told her how much I loved her and of course she started crying and then I got on one knee and asked her to marry me. Thankfully, she said yes! However, a bunch of geese decided it would be great to show up and steal the show. They proceeded to hiss and honk at us, but we were far too emotional to care. Coincidentally, there happened to be a nice older guy strolling around the park taking pictures and happened to capture the moment I asked her to marry me and her reaction which was really special. It made me look good too because it looked like I hired a professional photographer. After the proposal Madison took pictures of us and we went to my parents house to celebrate for a little bit before we headed back to Melinda's house for a surprise party that our friend Danielle threw us. After the party we headed to one of our favorite ice cream places and saw our priest there. He blessed us and our engagement in the ice cream shop which was the best way we could've ended the day.