New Year’s newspaper proposal

From a forbidden (well, thought to be, anyway) office romance to a surprise New Year’s Eve engagement, Josh Krause and Samantha Parzuchowski had a wonderful courtship and look forward to a bright marriage.

Initially meeting as co-workers in a CVS in Florida, Josh was the store manager and Parzuchowski a pharmacy technician; ironically, for a couple that would go on to have an engagement through a paper with thousands of subscribers, thought they would have to keep their relationship a secret. “We kept it quiet at first because we thought we weren’t allowed to date, but when someone spilled the beans, our district manager actually said it was ok, “said Parzuchowski.

During shifts, Krause would “help the pharmacy” where he and Parzuchowski would trade jokes and get to know each other. “My first impression was that he was handsome and hardworking; rumors said that he was a hard[expletive], but I found out otherwise… I learned that we both have amazing work ethics, but still, when he came back there [the pharmacy back room] it was like we were the only two in the whole store.”

Both describing themselves as somewhat shy and quiet at first, the pair grew to learn of each other’s mutual and at times, sarcastic sense of humor, which wrapped up in keen intellect. “She had the best sense of humor and was as sarcastic as I was,” said Krause.

During quarantine, the pair, who love bowling (Krause has been in a league for 10 years and Parzuchowski would cheer him on), have seen their hobbies put on hold, but say that the time spent at home has really brought them together and established that they would want to spend the rest of their lives in each other’s company.

“After our first date, I could tell how perfect we were for each other,” said Krause.

Only telling Parzuchowki’s parents of his plans to place an advertisement in a local paper to propose to his girlfriend, Krause endured jokes of a “missing engagement ring” when he discussed future plans for the past few months.

“My mom didn’t spoil it at all! I was not expecting it,” said Parzuchowski. “A few hours before everyone got together, I was talking to my mom while getting ready about how ‘I think he is going to do it sometime soon since we had a two-year plan.’ She told me afterwards that she was trying really hard to hold her tongue.”

To prove just how unsuspecting Parzuchowski was, she initially gave the wrong hand during Krause’s one-bent-knee proposal, after the presentation of the article and had to wait to get a manicure before sharing photos of the ring on social media.

While Parzuchowski grew up and went to school in East Islip and her mother now lives in Blue Point—who also lovingly contacted the paper to ensure the right timing and placement of the proposal advertisement—the couple is back to Florida with Parzuchowski’s rescue cat. Although allergic, Krause said, “I have become a cat dad to him.”