Brian and Melissa met during her senior year at Gettysburg College.  Melissa took a job during her last semester at The Pub and Restaurant on the square in Gettysburg.  Brian was a waiter at The Pub.  At the time, Melissa and Brian were both in other relationships.  She, Brian, and other employees at the Pub, would occasionally go out for a drink, and became acquaintances.  With the exception of an upcoming baseball game on Melissa’s birthday, Brian and Melissa did not expect to see each other again, as she was returning to Baltimore to begin graduate school at Towson University. One evening, while out with Tom at Kelsey’s, Melissa ran into Brian.  It turned out that he had decided to move to Baltimore for the summer to live with his sister Robyn, and her husband Bobby.  He was working at Kelsey’s, which was quite literally, in walking distance from Melissa’s house.  Melissa was still in the same relationship, and Brian was dating someone new, but they exchanged a few phone calls, and celebrated Melissa’s birthday at an Orioles game with other Pub friends.   After the baseball game, Melissa and Brian would occasionally see each other at Kelsey’s, and had exchanged phone numbers and screen names so they could keep in touch.  Brian moved back to Gettysburg after a trip to Europe at the end of the summer, and Melissa started work at Towson as a Graduate Assistant while finishing her degree. They talked often on Instant Messenger and became closer friends.  During homecoming weekend at Gettysburg College, Melissa’s friend Elizabeth Marinelli was getting married.  Melissa had RSVP’d for two people, and because her friends couldn’t make the wedding, and her boyfriend at the time was in North Carolina, Melissa asked Brian to accompany her. He agreed, and was such a wonderful partner all evening that Melissa realized that there was something very special about Brian.  They spent the rest of the weekend together.  Melissa ended her relationship that week, and she and Brian have been dating ever since. 

            Since that September day, Melissa and Brian have done so much together.  They traveled through the United Kingdom and the Bahamas in the summer of 2001, after Melissa graduated from Towson.  Melissa started work in the fall of 2001 at Oakland Mills High School in Columbia, MD as a chemistry teacher.  In 2002, Brian moved to Baltimore and late that summer, they bought their condo in Kenwood Gardens.  In November of 2002, they adopted Simon, their beagle.    In February of 2003, they made their first trip to San Francisco, a city that would later become very special to both of them.  In April of the same year, they visited Spain.   In May, Brian graduated from Shepherd College, now Shepherd University.  He began his employment with Lockheed Martin in March of the following year.  Shortly thereafter they adopted another pet, a kitten that they named Garfunkel. In June, Melissa left for Berkeley, California, where she was planning to spend her summer working in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory with the US Department of Energy.  While there, Brian and Melissa became engaged! 

“On Friday, July 2^nd, Brian arrived in Oakland to spend several days with me.  He met me in Berkeley at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory where I was working.  We snuck out very early to get a start on our time together and catch up after not seeing each other for so long.  First, we went to the Lauer’s house so that I could pack for the weekend.  There, Brian met Rick and their dog, Dusty.  We then headed on a trek to San Francisco that at first seemed roundabout, but I would later learn would allow us to enter San Francisco by crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.  We traversed north into Marin County, and just before the bridge, veered off to the Marin Headlands, a series of massive bluffs directly overlooking the Bay, the Bridge, Alcatraz, and the city of San Francisco.  We drove around at first, trying to find the best view.  It was very windy at the top of the bluffs, so much so that we had to bundle up before climbing.  After we reached the top, Brian told me to take a few pictures.  Then he said he had a gift for me.  He asked me how much I loved him.  I told him that I loved him more than there was wind on top of the Marin Headlands.  He asked me if I loved him enough to spend the rest of my life with him.  I answered affirmatively, and fumbled with the gift box he had given me.  With his help, I got it open, and removed the tissue paper surrounding a Limoge globe of the world.  He took the globe and asked me if I loved him enough to be his wife, and said that he wanted to give me the world.  He was nervous, and his hands were shaking.  He opened the globe and inside was ring.  He got on one knee and asked if I would marry him.  I just kept repeating, “Oh my God.”  It was all so beautiful and overwhelming that I don’t think it registered at first.  I finally got a “Yes” out and Brian put the ring on my finger, and yelled “We just got engaged.”  All of the visitors clapped for us.
    I later learned that Brian had planned this with the help of my family and friends.  Two weeks prior to our engagement, he enlisted the aide of my sister who helped him procure the ring and the other engagement goodies.  She even arranged a time for my entire family to get together so taht Brian could ask for my hand, and show them the ring.  The weekend before he flew to California, he visited different vendors in Gettysburg and gathered materials to bring to me after he asked me to marry him.  He's so thoughtful!”