Then in January of 2021, I ran into two friends, Jill and Lily, in Fort Worth. They both asked if I was single - they had a new neighbor in their duplex that they wanted me to meet! They sang her praises and mentioned that her name was ‘Maura.’ Immediately recognizing the name, I asked if it was ‘Maura Tonroy’, remembering the girl that Cat encouraged me to get to know. Both astonished, they told me that it was! I told them that someone had already mentioned her name to me and thought that there might be something there!

Now that I was living back in Fort Worth, I couldn’t turn down a chance to meet this girl that three friends thought might be my match, so I asked for her phone number from Lily! I was excited!

After getting her number, I did what you might have expected - absolutely nothing… I waited several weeks, while telling people about this girl that I was going to ask on a date. Even if it was just a date or two, how could three mutual friends be wrong?

I realized that I had told so many people that I had planned to ask Maura out that I had to finally make good on my word! Knowing that Maura didn’t know who I was, I wanted to make a bold play when I reached out to her - a text message wouldn’t do the trick. I needed to call her.

I paced around my backyard as the nerves built. I thought about what I was going to say, explain how I got her number and ultimately ask her out on a date. After a lot of pacing, it was time. I knew enough of what I wanted to say, dialed the number and found the courage to hit the green button to call.

The phone rang - my heart beat hard - it rang again - my heart beat harder - it rang, and I was anxiously awaiting a voice that I had never heard to answer. But she never did. The last thing that I was expecting….it went to voicemail.

As the mailbox recording played, I had to make a fast decision. If I hung up, she would never know who I was. I had the courage to cold-call without her knowing who I was – leaving a voicemail was the only option.

In my panic, I defaulted to my ‘Business Chris’ voice, scrambled for a monologue of what I planned to say to her and I asked a total stranger out on a date via voicemail.

Maura was on a girls trip to Mexico and had been at dinner with her friends (Natalie, Cydney and Abby). The voicemail rang through, and with all of her friends around, she listened to a complete stranger make a ‘business-y’ request for a dinner date.

The phone call must have caught her attention because she texted me back letting me know that she would love to go on a date when she got back in town! But, she never mentioned when she would be back so I wasn’t too sure this date was ever going to happen.

Sure enough, she made it back into town and we made plans for that first date - I was going to pick her up (at 6:50 specifically) and we were going to get dinner at The Original!

I was excited and I wanted to make the best first impression as I could - three mutual friends couldn’t be wrong. The Original doesn’t accept reservations so I made a backup reservation at Tokyo Cafe, just in case the wait was too long…

We got our table at The Original (I can still take you to the table where we sat) and the conversation was easy and she was even sweeter than our friends mentioned. After several hours that went by in the blink of an eye, I dropped her back off at her house.

I felt an immediate connection and wanted to see her again, so I showed my cards immediately and asked her out on a second date the next night!

After spending the second evening in a row with Maura, I knew everything that I needed to know. She was absolutely worth the pursuit - there really was something special about her.

People always said that the best way to meet someone was through mutual friends, right?

She still has the voicemail, by the way.

I started planning and I leaned into every detail! I wanted to make it a surprise for Maura and for her to feel like the most special girl in the world as I asked her to be mine forever!

We had a date night planned at The Fitzgerald, but earlier in the week, I let her know that we had to make a small change in plans. Work called (6th Ave Storytelling) and we had to be stand-in subjects for a client photoshoot at the Kimbell Art Museum because the original stand-ins cancelled last minute. No problem; all the timing would work out and we could head to our reservation right afterward.

This was a desperation plan with less than a week before the proposal - it was the most believable plan that I could come up that could get Maura dressed and in the proposal location.

Expecting that she might see through it and have a lot of questions - I had a lot of answers.

Leading up to the evening, I had one of my coworkers, Cole, send both of us an email with the details of the faux photoshoot including the date, time, location, attire, client’s name, link to the client’s website, photographer’s phone number and shot list. The same email that we would have sent in preparation for any other photoshoot subject, to make it seem legit. (It turns out that Maura hates photoshoots)

The stage was set!

The day had come, and I was so anxious that I felt the only thing that would calm me down was to be with her (ring in possession). After picking out her outfit, we decided that we would head to Eddie V’s for a drink before we went to the photoshoot because she was nervous (little did she know that the drink was more helpful for me).

At Eddie V’s, an older gentleman, a bar regular, came by and said, ‘You two are a beautiful couple!’ What a wonderful addition as we prepared for the big night – just a little bit of unplanned icing on the cake.

After anxiously checking my watch time and time again, it was time to head to the photoshoot!

We parked the car and started to walk toward where we were supposed to meet the photographer. Maura was surprised that I knew right where to park, right where we were heading to meet the photographer, and why we were heading there with such a purpose.

As we neared the spot and came up the stairs, I could see the scene that had been arranged - rose petals scattered on the ground, four framed pictures of us and a bottle of champagne on ice (thanks, Jackson!). We are walking that way and it hadn’t quite clicked for her yet.

Meanwhile, the photographer, Nate, was snapping pictures as we were nearing the rose petals. Unknowingly and a little uneasy, Maura leaned over to me and said, ‘I think that guy is taking pictures of us…’ I don’t know that I had any words to give a response that made any real sense.

Nearing the roses, she could start to see that the pictures were of the two of us, but I still don’t think the reality of the moment had kicked in. We made it all the way to the edge of the roses, and I turned to her and grabbed both of her hands. At that very moment, it clicked for her.

‘We aren’t here for a photoshoot.’ I said. She had seen it coming all along. All of the signs were there, and looking into each other’s eyes, it was our moment.

With the most amazingly surprised look on her face and she responded, ‘oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.’

Holding both of her hands, I spoke the words that I had on my heart, dropped down to one knee, and asked the question that I was so ready to ask!

Through tears from both of us, she said yes!

I had arranged for our families to be there so that they could be a part of the moment as our new family and watch the surprise unfold. And the photographer was indeed taking pictures through the entire proposal.

Our parents joined us and we had a small celebration with some family photos of all of us together to capture the moment that made me a better man forever!

I broke the news to Maura that we weren’t going to the Fitzgerald for dinner. I asked our parents if they could go get us a table at The Original for us to celebrate the evening as a family while we took a few more pictures.

We stayed back with the photographer and had a small engagement shoot (turns out there was a photoshoot after all). We thanked the photographer and had a moment back to ourselves to celebrate together before heading on to dinner with our family where it had all begun just shy of a year prior.

In our first moment with just the two of us since it had happened, Maura mentioned that she really wished we could have the evening to ourselves to celebrate our engagement instead of eating with our families. Little did she know that there was still another big surprise looming.

Still relishing in the excitement of the moment, we parked and walked in the back door to The Original.

To Maura’s surprise, The Original was filled with about fifty of our close friends and family to celebrate our evening together with flowers, decorations, balloons, and more pictures - the celebration was just beginning!

With hugs, high fives, and margarita cheers all around from those that came from near and far, we have truly never felt more loved!

Our perfect evening together came to an end, only to start the first chapter of our lives together forever. Thanks to all of those who came to celebrate with us and a special thanks to Connor, Amanda, and Jackson who helped make the most perfect evening a reality!