Our Story
How We Met
Maddie (me) and Michaela first met at Concordia University in 2019. Michaela had heard about Maddie while she was in Canada by her friends who told Michaela she would like Maddie because both of them were dancers. Apparently, Maddie made a decent impression for them to tell Michaela (lucky me). When they first met outside the dance studio at Concordia, they both auditioned for an operetta called Die Fledermaus. Costumes consisted of purple corsets that were not necessarily comfortable to dance in, but I digress. Throughout the rest of the school year, Maddie and Michaela were inseparable. Neither of them left each others side. I’m sure our friends were slightly annoyed at this point given the time spent with one another. Time spent looked like Maddie cooking for Michaela, a picky eater at the time, and sleeping in each other’s rooms throughout the week/weekend. Want to know what gay panic looks like? Sleeping on opposite sides of the bed turned into sleeping with the tops of their heads touching. Gay. Absolutely gay. Neither of them knew it at the time.
Fast forward to winter break of 2020, Michaela left to go back home to Idaho. Maddie drove Michaela to the airport but as soon as Michaela went to catch her plane… Maddie’s car broke down in the middle of the airport. Again, I digress. Remember how I said inseparable? Nights were spent over Skype where they would watch movies together, talk throughout the night, through falling asleep over Skype, to wake up in the morning to tell each other, “Have a good day and talk to you tonight!”. Feelings continued to grow (insert more gay panic), and once Michaela returned, that is when they both knew something strange was going on. Their first kiss was in Michaela’s dorm room and that was that. Here is how this went with the dialogue:
Maddie quietly with butterflies in her stomach, “Can I kiss you?” (Gay panic)
Michaela knowing full well what Maddie asked, “What?”
Maddie: “Nothing!”.
Michaela: “No, I heard you. Yes, you can!”.
Yes, cheesy but that’s what happened! Michaela finally asked Maddie to be her girlfriend a week or so later after a night out swing dancing with friends.
COVID-19 hit and students were asked to leave school and resume classes online. Maddie was heartbroken knowing Michaela would need to return to Idaho. Maddie IMMEDIATELY asked Michaela to stay in Minnesota and they’d both live at Maddie’s dad’s home in Elk River. Michaela said yes and they have lived together since. They both knew they were right for each other and would be together… forever. (Cheesy, we are aware).
They moved into their first apartment together with Maddie’s cat, Harrison. Unfortunately, the word got out and Michaela lost friends and family due to them announcing they were together. This was a hard time for the both of them. Immense amounts of shame and sadness overcame them, but they had each other to pick up the broken pieces. They knew they would but okay.
Maddie and Michaela talked about their futures together and made the decision that one day they would get married. It was just a matter of time.
The Proposal
A year leading up to the proposal, Maddie created a 20 minute video of the two of them with a multitude of “their songs” and bought Michaela a ring. The two of them were invited on a family trip to Costa Rica in November of 2021 and that is when Maddie thought this would be a great opportunity to ask Michaela the big question. Maddie put Michaela’s ring in a pair of red Christmas socks and brought to Costa Rica and stashed the ring in the side table in their bedroom. Michaela knew Maddie brought red Christmas socks and asked why. Maddie said, “I don’t want my feet to get cold”. This was enough to convince Michaela this was a normal occurrence.
The time came where Maddie and Michaela were going to be alone at the house in Costa Rica and this was the moment. Maddie poured them some drinks with old alcohol found in the home Michaela’s family rented (yes, not the best drink) and brought Michaela upstairs to a terrace that overlooked the ocean. Maddie sat Michaela down and Maddie had her listen to the 20 minute song Maddie put together. (Maddie forgot to bring the laptop so this was option number 2.) Maddie and Michaela danced to their song, the last song to play, and Maddie nervously got down on one knee and asked Michaela the big question. I think you know what the answer was!
Here is the completed proposal video for your viewing :)
https://youtu.be/Z0oowLnZ1eg