It was September 30th 2023 - a warm, fall, football Saturday in Durham, North Carolina and Duke was hosting Notre Dame. Katlyn’s mom, a Duke alumni, and her Aunt Pam welcomed about 50 guests to their tailgate at Duke University. While Katlyn’s mom is a huge Duke fan, their family also roots for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish due to strong family connections. Katlyn’s Aunt Maureen, a Notre Dame alumni, was visiting for the weekend and invited Patrick and his mother to join the tailgate.

As the moms were all introducing themselves, they realized that Katlyn and Patrick seemed to be hitting it off. They scrambled to trade tickets around so that the two would sit together during the game. Patrick, a camera buff, took pictures throughout the day. He and Katlyn walked around the campus with Katlyn’s brothers tagging along. After the walk, Patrick asked Katlyn for her email address so that he could share the pictures from the day with her. By the next afternoon, he had shared the pictures with Katlyn - along with his cell number “in case she wanted to stay in touch.” An amazing relationship was sparking.

Patrick and Katlyn have lived in different states, Virginia and North Carolina - four hours apart, and they have spent all possible time together. When Patrick was visiting India for the wedding of two close friends, Katlyn secretly snuck up to New Jersey to welcome him back home and to celebrate his birthday!

Skipping ahead a bit, Patrick snuck to North Carolina in October to ask Katlyn’s parents for permission to marry their daughter. In December, with close friends hidden and eagerly waiting to celebrate with them, Patrick proposed to Katlyn on a trip to Asheville, NC on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate.