“Any proposal had to involve books, and books in New York entail The Strand.”
Britt Burgeson, 26, met Daniel O’Duffy, 25, when they were both students at the University of Notre Dame.
“It took a long time to win over Britt,” O’Duffy told BuzzFeed. “We met speed dating at Notre Dame, and she absolutely mauled me in a contest of wit and literary references.”
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“I knew that I loved her soon after starting at a different college and feeling a void in my life where we weren't talking every day, weren't sharing experiences,” O’Duffy said.
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After dating for years, O’Duffy wanted to make things official by proposing to Burgeson last September at one of her favorite places in New York City: The Strand bookstore.
“I made sure that the day was the pinnacle of a normal Sunday," O'Duffy said. "We went to our favorite bar, our favorite summer day outing at Governor's Island, which coincidentally fell on the last day it was open in 2014. We were surrounded by our friends at our favorite bar, then we wandered through the best bookstore.”
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“Growing up an only child, I spent a lot of time reading. Books provided adventure, friendship, and a lens into another’s reality,” Burgeson told BuzzFeed. “New to New York, The Strand was my oasis in the city.”
“In case of even the most bleak global apocalypse in the style of The Road, Britt would keep going because there are books left unread and unloved out there,” O’Duffy said.
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