How We Met

In the summer of 2007, Stephen was looking for an air conditioner for his apartment. His twin brother's girlfriend's sister, Debra, mentioned that her friend Katie was selling one, so he paid her a visit.

Katie told Stephen that she also had a twin sister, Carroll, who was about to move to New York City. Stephen asked Debra for an introduction, but it took a full year for them to finally meet at Debra's birthday party the following August.

Stephen and Carroll felt an immediate connection far beyond both being twins. They chatted well into the night and exchanged numbers before Carroll had to be dragged away to the next destination by her girlfriends.

During their first official date at Uva wine bar, they both realized how strong their feelings were for each other and discussed how natural it felt to be together.

Proposal

Thanksgiving was approaching. Carroll was going to spend the holiday with her family in Connecticut, and Stephen with his in Maryland.

That week, Carroll's friend Kelly emailed that she was going to be in town the night before Thanksgiving and wanted to organize a girls' dinner at a restaurant downtown. Meanwhile, Stephen bought a bus ticket to Maryland and conspicuously placed it on his dresser for Carroll to see. When he said goodbye and "left for Maryland", he really went to stay at Michael and Caryn's apartment where he anxiously waited for the big night.

The night before Thanksgiving, Carroll was preparing to meet her friends downtown when Kelly sent another email and changed their destination to Uva. Carroll considered it a strange choice since it happened to be her and Stephen's favorite restaurant, but since he was already in DC, she dismissed that idea. She headed to Uva with her twin sister Katie, looking forward to seeing their friends.

Carroll and Katie were the first of their friends to arrive at the restaurant, which is a rare enough occurrence that Carroll was instantly suspicious. The hostess told them that the table was ready downstairs. When Carroll reached the top of the stairs, she saw Stephen waiting at the bottom. With tears in her eyes, she descended towards him only to discover her family and his family waiting for her. Two years, two months and twenty days after their first date at Uva, Stephen asked Carroll to marry him.

(She said yes!)

Surprise!
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