A random encounter on Twitter turned into a lifetime of love. Dante and Porsha met on Twitter in 2011 after we both responded to a mutual acquaintance’s tweet. They exchanged a few DM’s but remained friends on Twitter and Facebook. In December 2014, while scrolling through Instagram, Dante came across Porsha’s profile and added her as a friend. After exchanging a few more DM’s, they embarked on their first date on January 2, 2015 and became inseparable after that.

During the week of our engagement, I had a feeling that Dante was planning on proposing. The anniversary of my grandmother’s passing was approaching. My dad called to tell me that we were having a family dinner in her honor and to “dress up”. At the time, I didn’t think too much of it, except for the fact that my dad said to “dress up”. I brushed it off until my mom started asking me what I was planning on wearing and how I was doing my hair. Everyone knows I wear braids 99% of the time, but at that moment, I wasn’t wearing them because I was having a tough time getting an appointment. Dante knows how much I hate doing my own hair (because I have so much of it!!), so one morning he asked if I was able to find someone else to do my braids. I told him no and that I was just planning on washing it and throwing it in a ponytail. About an hour later, I receive a text message from my stylist, saying that she had availability. I snagged the appointment and headed to a nail appointment. While there, my mom called me to tell me that my stylist had an earlier appointment and if I wanted it. I said sure and rushed off the phone because I was about to sit in the pedicure chair and I didn’t want to drop my phone in the water. During my appointment, I kept thinking about why she would call my mom and not me to tell me about an earlier appointment. That’s when it clicked that something was going on! I couldn’t ask anyone about it because I didn’t know which one of my friend’s knew and I didn’t want to be wrong (haha). The day of arrived and I went to get my hair done. It took everything in me not to ask my stylist what she knew! Then I went home and got dressed. While driving to my granddad’s house, Dante was more talkative than usual and asking a lot more questions about my grandmother. We arrived and my dad was distracting me while Dante went outside. He popped the question and of course I said yes!

The months leading up to the proposal, several ideas crossed my mind but whatever I decided, I knew it had to meaningful. My initial plan was to plan a trip to Europe but that became unfeasible with the arrival of Covid-19. Roughly 3 months prior to the proposal, I remembered a heart wrenching video Porsha sent me a few years back about a guy that proposed to his girlfriend on the anniversary of her mother’s passing with his reason being, to make a traditionally unbearable day one she could now look forward to. As part of my masterplan, I reached out to one of P’s best friends (Brittany) to confirm her ideal ring (P previously hinted that she would have this information). I then recruited two of my closest friends (Marius and Brandon) to go ring shopping. About a month prior to the engagement, I met with her dad to share my plan and to ask for his permission to not only propose, but to share the day of his mother’s passing. With his blessing, we worked in cahoots to plan the big day. He communicated to P the idea of an extravagant dinner in celebration of his mom and P’s mom helped to ensure her hair was nicely done the day of. Fast forward to the big day, as we arrived, her dad guided her into the living room to view child photos of P and her grandmother as I attempted to swiftly escape through the backyard patio exit. After 5 minutes of waiting, P exits to the backyard where I am on one knee and surrounded by her immediate family (along with my parents). Think it’s safe to say… she said yes.