Joe & I met when I was barely 21, he was 23, and we were both working at the same restaurant in his home town. He had gotten home from college and returned for some PT work…the first time I met him I asked him how he took his coffee because he came in a little tipsy from a bar expo at Twin River & seemed to be in need of some help, haha!
Next thing I know, 2 years later we are moving to Chicago together. I had always wanted to move there and I got accepted to grad school…fast forward 5 more years together and there we were on a mini vacation in New Orleans, LA.
We had gone out the night before he proposed because we were vacationing with some friends. We had gotten lost and all separated so this night, we had all just made the decision to stick together to avoid another fiasco. So, after dinner we are walking back to the hotel when Joe pulls me aside and tells me to pick a horse and buggy ride. Just having the conversation about staying all together, I immediately asked him what he was thinking. Eventually, I picked a buggy and there we were riding through the historic parts of New Orleans, tour guide chatting away like it was nothing. I’m looking around aimlessly interested in the scenery when I hear the tour guide stop talking. I turn my head to see why, and there’s Joe- on his knee, ring open in a box as he’s looking up at me, and all I heard was him ask, “Will you finally marry me?” (This has been a joke between us/our family for years, since we’ve been together for 7 at this point). I was in such shock that I looked behind me to make sure he wasn’t talking to someone else! Of course, I said yes, and when we got back to the hotel he surprised me again with an upgraded version of our hotel that had two floors and a balcony overlooking Bourbon St. The rest is history! Since then, we’ve moved back home to RI to start the next 7 year chapter of our lives together.