We met at Christ Community Church. Casey was driving his pastor friend (our officiant Mike Higgins) down from St. Louis. Mike was doing some work at CCC. Rachel was on one of the teams Mike was working with, and Casey would tag along to the meetings to provide his wisdom.

Casey first noticed Rachel wearing overalls and rewriting other people's sentences. He decided to ask her out.

He tried several times but without success. There was always too many people around! Finally, he slid into her DMs.

Their first date was at Crystal Bridges. They talked, looked at art, walked on the bike trail, and ate dinner. Casey even gave Rachel his sweatshirt when she got cold. The date went so well that they met up again the next morning for coffee.

We've talked everyday since and have been traveling back and forth from Missouri to Arkansas to see one another.

We were traveling in Michigan when Casey proposed. We were spending a few days at Casey's grandparents before his family reunion. One morning, Casey asked Rachel to go for a walk. They walked through the neighborhood and talked. Then, Casey took Rachel to a covered bridge surrounded by the lily pads, potted plants, and trees. Casey got down on one knee and asked Rachel to marry him on the bridge. She said yes!

Afterwards, we went to a used bookstore and camped.

Later, we found out that his grandma had been caring for the potted plants on the bridge for 25 years!

As a symbol of the family culture that we want to create and the equal partnership that we want to cultivate in our relationship, we have decided to both take a new last name.

The name we have chosen, Drake, is one that Casey came across in his mother’s ancestry while studying his genealogy, an interest he inherited from his paternal grandmother, Della Lang.

The name Drake is one long connected to exploration and adventure, a tone that Casey and Rachel wish to set for their new family.