Once upon a time, Thursday, June 6, 2002, to be exact, we showed up at St. Robert Bellarmine Chapel for the summer Thursday Night Gathering presented by Catholic Campus Ministry at George Mason University. The annual bar-b-que kickoff also included a campus-wide Scavenger Hunt. We ended up on the same team! We said "hi" and that was it... sort of.
Then... once upon a little later time, the summer of 2003, we attended the Friday Night University Campus Fellowship meetings sponsored by People of Praise. Mark remembers us meeting at Nick and Polly’s. He also remembers that we were introducing one another, and Mark said he was into computers, and Mel said, "you’re my new best friend." That made Mark feel very special. This is significant to both of us because we always wanted to marry our best friend. We just didn’t know it at the time, but we would become each others’ best friend and future spouse.
Once upon a December 2003, during Mel’s Christmas break, Mark helped her work on the computer lab at St. Michael’s Elementary School. As a favor, she took him out to lunch at Hav-a-bite Eatery in Old Town Fairfax. This we consider our first one-on-one meal together.
[*Hav-a-bite is a significant piece of info to the engagement proposal]
He Likeeee Me!
We really began dating Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend, 2005. Mark took Mel to see Shakespeare’s "Twelfth Night" in a park in DC. That was the first night we "fell in love."
We’ve been loving each other more every day since then.
Friday night, May 26, 2006, Mark planned what Mel would later find out, was their last date as a couple. He wanted to give a tribute to our typical dating life, so we went to dinner at Hav-a-bite Eatery, the place where we ate our first meal, and then to a movie to see "X-Men III." On the way to dinner, we saw a beautiful rainbow - the sign of a promise, a covenant between God and His people. Nice touch, Big Guy.
Saturday, Mark arrived at Mel’s door with 3 roses.
We shared breakfast at one of our favorite spots, "Pancake House" in Falls Church.
Then we went to the library next door and checked out some poetry books. How romantic ;-)
From there, we drove to DC to the John Paul II Cultural Center. We consider it one of the most fun and interactive museums we’ve ever visited. Mark was trying to fill in some time before dinner.
The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Through the Knights of Columbus, Mark regularly ushers here, and we have enjoyed Mass here together often. We prayed at many of the altars, Mark secretly got the ring blessed by a priest he knew, and we had a chance to pray together in front of the Blessed Sacrament. One little Good Samaritan stop to help change a tire, and we headed off to Old Town Alexandria for dinner at The Fish Market. The host seated us on a romantic balcony overlooking King Street.
After dinner, we played catch in the park nearby. A half an hour later, Mark took Mel’s hand and we walked down to the water’s edge. Once he found a private spot, Mark took off his glove, and then Mel’s glove, then his hat, and her hat. He got down on one knee, and said, "Melanie Renee Margaret Burke, will you be my wife?" And of course she said "Yes." He then took out a dazzling ring, and she said "Yes" again.
The rest is history in the making, happily ever after. :-)