On an unseasonably warm February day in 2020, Olivia and her friend walked into Common Ground where unbeknownst to her, Nicholas was celebrating his 28th birthday with friends and family. You can call it luck, or divine providence, but Nicholas and Olivia walked away that day knowing their lives had changed.

While they were excited to see each other again, the universe had other plans. As the world shut down, from states away, Nicholas and Olivia spoke daily through text and FaceTime. They grew close, and then finally saw each other again in May - sharing a pizza in Asbury Park.

Time passed and their bond grew. In 2023, Nicholas helped Olivia pack up her shoebox apartment into their family truck and she moved to Long Island where they began to build their life together.

In June of 2024, with Patrick and Lamya Clarkes' blessing and while Nicholas was on on the Cole family vacation in Long Beach Island, he asked Charlotte and Simon Cole for their daughter's hand in marriage.

On September 4th, on a stormy day in St. Tropez, Nicholas proposed to Olivia while rain poured down around them.

They always knew they wanted to get married in Europe, with Olivia's family ties to Denmark and England and Nicholas's Middle Eastern roots. But their ancestral common ground lays in Ireland - with Olivia's paternal Grandmother, Patricia McCabe (Cole) and Nicholas's paternal Great-Grandmother, Ellen Brennen.

They are so excited to celebrate in Dublin, but more grateful for the prospect of the decades ahead of them as true partners through this lifetime.

O&N