He said: I think I started following her on Twitter in 2013. She seemed really nice and tweeted about music a lot. Oh, and she had this black and white picture that I liked. She also had this tattoo on her arm that I thought was a motorcycle or something. It was a dreamcatcher. Doh! She said: I liked his music takes and his online personality and his profile picture was super handsome...almost too handsome lol. He said: We'd interacted for years on Twitter, but we still hadn't met yet. In 2016, she was tweeting about Sting and The Police. Sting is one of my favorite songwriters (fun fact). The song was either "I'll Be Watching You" or "Wrapped Around Your Finger." In hindsight, either one is fitting for us lol. She said: June 15, 2016. HE was actually tweeting about Sting and The Police and I replied to him that I appreciated his musical views and said we should be friends. What's funny is, I had prayed (crying, might I add) the night before about how I was lonely. Something told me to just put it out there when I saw his tweet. He said: She slid into my DMs (that's direct messages for those of you born before 1970) and we spent the next few hours messaging each other back and forth. I gave her my number, and she actually texted me! I think we talked for the first time that evening. She had a soothing voice that sounded like that lady on KLUV. Was it Delilah? Yeah, her. She said: No, HE slid into my DMs with his number after he responded to my tweet saying he'd love to be my friend and how he had been admiring me! I have proof! He said: We FINALLY met in person. For those of you imagining some lavish locale, think again. We met in the parking lot of a Whataburger. I think she had to make sure I wasn't some kind of creep. We didn't even go inside and eat. We stood out there and talked. She said: It was like meeting an old friend, only we were strangers. It was jarring. It felt like we were meant to be in each other's lives before we even understood how.

So...I started designing Chels' ring in July, and I had it in my hand right before Labor Day. The next part was figuring out when and where to propose without being obvious or typical. Eureka! I'll plan an engagement dinner that moonlights as a Friendsgiving. I'll even have Chelsé help me plan it. So November 20 arrived (our wedding date isn't a coincidence), and there were a million things to do. First, I had to get in a room with Chels' dad without her figuring it out or becoming suspicious. She was out running errands, so I snuck over to her parents' house and got their blessing. Yes! But...she showed up while I was there. No! A little white lie and a call to her maid of honor (thanks, Wave) threw her off the scent. Just when I thought everything was starting to fall into place, my car (I was in my old-school Camaro that has a finicky gas gauge) ran out of gas on my way to pick up her flowers. [sigh] God was having fun with me that day and testing my resolve. Anyway, Captain Woods came to my rescue and helped me get my car gassed up and on my way to the florist. I got there about 20 minutes before they closed. Once I got home, reeking of gasoline (mmm), Karen and Bianca were already there meal prepping. They're angels on earth. I showered, hid the flowers, and found a way to calm my nerves, which were already fried. Oh, what was on the menu? Let's see - Chels made a charcuterie board; we had bacon-wrapped chicken, crab dip, salad, lobster mac & cheese (thanks, Rodney), lobster tail, ribeye steak, and cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory because that's Chels' favorite. I'm a believer that the best meals consist of something from the air, land, and sea. Voila! Just before dessert, I got up to speak and thank everyone for helping me pull off an amazing Friendsgiving. I really do have amazing friends, and I'm so very grateful for them. At this point, Chels was still oblivious to what was really going on. I dropped down on one knee. The rest is history.