We met in Pensacola, FL while we were in the same Squadron during Flight School. On one bad weather day, we were both trapped in the briefing spaces and Gretchen had no choice but to listen to hours of Matt quoting the Office.

Shortly afterwards, Matt asked Gretchen if she would like to accompany him on a date to an exclusive, members only club, Costco Wholesale. Gretchen of course said yes!

Matt moved to Meridian, MS to continue flight school while Gretchen continued flight school in Pensacola. Luckily, they weren't that far apart.

Matt finished flight school and was assigned to Whidbey Island, Washington. Only short flight from Gretchen in SF!

Gretchen received orders to be a Guardian of the Golden Gate and moved to San Francisco, CA.

The Navy and Coast Guard once again colluded in finding the farthest bases apart and Matt was sent to Iwakuni, Japan.

Only a few days after returning from his first deployment, Matthew organized an amazing proposal involving both sides of the family! Throughout every move - moves that only seemed to bring us farther away from each other - we always chose to endure the tyranny of distance together, with a stubborn faith that our love would persevere. To say it was easy would be a lie, but to say that it was worth it would be an understatement! We are more than grateful that the future will bring us closer together and we will never forget the hard-won wisdom that years of distance has taught us.

Gretchen moved to Atlantic City, NJ. Coming in at a whopping 7,047 miles away from Iwakuni, they both certainly hope this is the farthest apart they ever live!