The Backstory

We met while working on the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign. We were both working in the Brooklyn headquarters. Melissa was on the Research team and started in May of 2015. Nat worked on the Tech team and started in January of 2016.

Melissa has a deep love of dogs, and a dog sat next to Nat at the office. The dog’s name was Winnie. Over time, Nat and Melissa became friends, as Melissa came by to pet Winnie almost every day. In June, we both matched with each other on Tinder. Nat had a spare ticket to see Thundercat at the Brooklyn Bowl that Friday night, so we met up and had a wonderful time. Because we worked together, and our job was seven days a week (and often quite long days), we saw each other every day. We started hanging out after work a few times a week, and by the time the summer conventions were over, we were deeply in love.

After the campaign ended, we grieved together. We traveled to Montreal and California in December of 2016, visiting snowy places and drinking and trying to detox from all of the politics. We decided to both stay in Brooklyn after the campaign and started looking for jobs. By May of 2017, we were living together. Melissa’s cat Beasley took to Nat quite well, often with Melissa complaining that Beasley snuggles more with him than with her.

Around September of 2017, we had decided we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Nat went out and bought a ring. He is horrible at keeping secrets, and by mid-November Melissa had already gotten him to show her the ring. Nat refused to propose though, claiming he had a plan. Near Christmas time, we flew out to visit Nat’s parents in California. After their home burned down in the Santa Rosa fires, they were living in their summer cabin up near Chester, CA. Melissa’s parents are both deceased, and Nat’s immediate family had quickly come to treat Melissa as one of their own.

On Christmas Day, Nat drove Melissa out to the tip of the peninsula of Lake Almanor, and sitting on a bench, proposed. He apparently had a speech written, but after about two sentences fell apart due to nerves. She said yes and we both wept in joy on the bench. We talked for a bit, took a selfie and then drove back to the cabin and told Nat’s parents and brother.