We met long before boyfriends and girlfriends were even thought of. In the hallways of Thomas Fitzwater Elementary, sprouted a close friendship between us. Despite having classes together on and off for our 5 years at Thomas Fitz we always remained lunchtime buddies. We grew distant in middle school as Stacey became super involved in sports and Dana in the band. High school came around and we became close again thanks to the Black Student Union. Fast forward to junior year and it was like we had rekindled our old friendship. In Mrs. Lim's algebra class we talked every day and it changed everything. We went to prom together and as the books say, the rest is history.

Our love for New Hope was something new. Stacey planned dinner and a wine tasting with friends, 10 days before my birthday. The morning of I felt so sick, I almost bailed on dinner and the outing. Upon finishing our wine tasting we toured the sidewalks of New Hope until we came across the gazebo lit up in the night. Stacey's friends suggested we go take pictures in the gazebo to capture our fun night. We took several group pictures until Stacey asked me to take a picture of him. He handed me his phone and proceeded to tell me to back up 5 times and started directing me on how to take his picture, despite the fact that I'm a trained photographer. When I finally sighed in the annoyance of all the backing up and directing he dropped down on one knee. In disbelief, I said yes and started backing up trying to process everything as it was happening. He finally got me to stop moving and just like that, we were engaged.