In 2016, two Marquette alums walked into the Church of the Gesu to tie the knot and say “I do.” Years later, they took a trip down memory lane to reminisce on how their story began in 2011 at Marquette.
“You got a guy from Connecticut [and] a girl from Kentucky. They meet in Milwaukee,” Meaghan O’Brien, a Marquette alum, said.
Carly, Meaghan’s roommate, knew Tyler from the Marquette track and field team. From there, Carly introduced Tyler to Meaghan during Meaghan’s junior year and Tyler’s senior year.
“We didn’t really have any overlap except for Carly, my roommate. Carly was so adamant about this guy that he would be great [for me]. Overtime, she kept forcing us to interact. One time, she was like ‘let’s go to the movies’ and she tricked the both of us into being there. Overtime, we started to spend a little bit more time together, and it just blossomed from there,” Meaghan said.
Tyler O’Brien, a Marquette alum, agrees that Carly was an important factor that ultimately led them together.
“She seemed nice but I wasn’t really looking to date anyone at the time. I didn’t really think it would turn romantic,” Tyler said.
Meaghan said there was the buildup beginning in October after a Halloween party when Tyler asked for her number, and then they officially started dating the February of her junior year and Tyler’s senior year and they have been together ever since.
Meaghan said the way they fell in love was very gradual. In college, Tyler would go to Meaghan’s Marquette club softball games, and Meaghan would go to his track meets.
“You’re learning how to be a couple and you spend so much time together … and then as you’ve been dating for a little while, it’s like, ‘Okay, well, I’m gonna go do this with this person,'” Meaghan said.
Tyler said they probably wouldn’t have found their way to each other had they not met in the way they did.
“Meeting when we did at Marquette was really how it all happened, and staying and living in Milwaukee is really because of our time at Marquette and how much we both love it here,” Tyler said.
Tyler said he chose to go to Marquette to live somewhere new and be in a good track and field conference. Tyler will be inducted into the Marquette Hall of Fame come early 2024 for his time as a track and field athlete.
“If you really think about it so many things had to line up … he could have gone to a lot of different schools and he picked Marquette,” Meaghan said. “As corny as it sounds, it feels like that’s how it was supposed to happen. And I like to think that everything happens for a reason. I think all those things led us to Marquette for a purpose.”
Meaghan said Tyler’s been an advocate for her even when she hasn’t been one for herself.
“With the support system that Tyler and I created for one another, I don’t know where I would be without him,” Meaghan said. “I think you grow so much and I feel like meeting in college you are at a pivotal point in your life and you can either grow together or you don’t grow together.”
Meaghan said they got engaged in May 2015, around their five-year mark of being together.
“I knew it was going to happen, I just did not know when. I was like ‘Tyler, I want to get married in the fall if we’re gonna get married.’ If we are gonna get married in the fall it has to be the next year,” Meaghan said.
Meaghan and Tyler officially tied the knot in the Church of the Gesu in 2016.
“It felt like the right place to get married. It was nice to share that with all of our friends, a lot [of our friends] went to Marquette and also our family got to come to campus and visit the city,” Tyler said.
Now, thanks to Marquette, Tyler and Meaghan currently reside in the Milwaukee suburbs, with their two sons. The O’Briens own Marquette basketball season tickets and still regularly visit campus.
Meaghan said when visiting campus with the kids, she’ll tell them their mom and dad used to practice track or softball at this location and walk this way to the library.
Meaghan said even if their paths didn’t cross through Carly, she hopes that life would still end up this way.
“In a good way, the weirdest part has been taking our kids back to campus. When they are running around, it’s kind of surreal that like they’re here,” Meaghan said. “I tell him all the time, like if you would have told your high school self you’re gonna end up with some girl from Kentucky, would you believe it? And he’s like no, just cause you know, it just doesn’t seem fathomable.”
This story was written by Trinity Zapotocky. She can be reached at [email protected]
