You're Invited
Our Story
How We Met
Erica and I met back in 2007 when I played free-roll poker on Tuesdays at Tolerico's in Monroeville. Erica was a cocktail waitress and she quickly caught my attention. Erica was taking Criminal Justice classes at the time and I was approximately two years into my career with Pittsburgh Police. She would ask me questions pertaining to her classes and my answers were not always what the class deemed "correct" based on my limited experience at the time LOL. Nevertheless, I quickly fell for her and eventually we fell in love.
The Proposal
I envisioned the proposal at Topsail Island, NC where Erica's family has vacationed since she was a child. I was able to coordinate with my future sister-in-law, Hollea how I wanted it to go. Somehow, Hollea was able to plan around and keep my secret from her 5 little girls (and Erica!) for 10 months. Everything went perfect: After a pre-planned walk on the beach to get Erica away, both of our families awaited our return from the balcony. Erica was confused as to why everyone was standing on the balcony (were they watching dolpins?) and had no clue what was coming. As I began my proposal, Erica realized what was happening and nerves kicked in. We both began to cry as I got down on one knee and popped open the box with the ring! Thankfully, she excepted my proposal on 7/3/2022! Unbeknownst to me, surrounding beach-goers had picked up on what was going on and cheered for us! We celebrated the rest of the vacation week with our families and lots of fireworks, of course!