We met at the Word of Life Family Campground in the summer of 2014. Ben was a staff member, and I was a camper. The two of us became friends, but we didn't talk too much after I left camp. Two years later we worked together at the same camp. We spent lots of time together, and instantly became best friends. Ben always makes me laugh. There wasn’t any other feelings between us except friendship. During the fall of that same year, we both attended the Word of Life Bible Institute. I was so glad to have him there. I was homesick, and he helped ease that. We had deep conversations about life and would talk late into the night. We ate almost every meal together, and spent the majority of our free time together. Ben played on the basketball team, and I would go watch him play. People would ask if we were dating but we just told them, “No, we’re best friends.” At Thanksgiving, I invited him, and a couple other friends to spend the fall break with my family. During that week, the two of us started to grow feelings for each other. Neither of us expressed it, because we were too nervous, and didn’t want to ruin our friendship. We went back to school, and kept it quiet for a couple weeks. It wasn’t until after Christmas break that Ben finally let me know how he felt about me. On January 7th 2017, he asked me to be his girlfriend. I happily said, “yes!"

It didn’t take us too long to realize that we were the ones God had for each other. We would take long walks together, and pray about our future. Our days revolved around when we could be together again. Classes would seem so long until we could spend time together. Ben and I had this ongoing joke. Whenever the topic of marriage would come up. He would say, “Oh, funny you should say that” and he would pretend to get on his knee to propose. This happened several times a week. After we graduated from the Bible Institute, he went back home to Virginia and I went back to Massachusetts. The goodbye was painful, and full of tears. We made plans for him to fly to Massachusetts once a month. Little did I know that when he came to visit me in October, he had an amazing surprise. Ben knows that my favorite place is Shelburne Falls in Massachusetts. I love the little coffee shop, New England gift stores and walking the “Bridge of Flowers.” On a foggy Tuesday morning, he asked if he could take me out for coffee in Shelburne Falls. We drove out there. He didn’t seem to act any different than normal. I had no idea what he was planning. Once we arrived, we began walking across the bridge. I was so busy taking in the beauty around me that I had no idea what was about to happen next. As we were nearing the end of the bridge, Ben said, “Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if I proposed to you?” To which I rolled my eyes and said, “That’s not funny.” He stopped walking, and turned to face me. His eyes sparkled, and he had huge smile on his face, “Funny I should say that…” He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a little box. He got down on his knee, and opened it. I couldn’t believe this was actually happening. It felt like I was in a dream! He took my shaking hand, and asked me to be his wife. We hugged and cried. It was the most beautiful moment of my life!