Damien and I both attended the same church so we actually knew of each other growing up, but other than the normal "hello," we never had a real conversation. It wasn't until one faithful Sunday when we were both home for the Christmas holiday that we finally said more than hello. On that Sunday, December 28, 2014, Damien arrived at New Life Church wearing one of his Navy uniforms and I was immediately annoyed because seeing him reminded me of the life I was trying to escape while on vacation: the military. Yet, here he was, wearing the same uniform I saw on a daily basis at work. So when Damien approached me to ask a question about where I currently lived, I made the comment, "So here you are wearing your uniform to church when I was trying to escape from people like you!" and he replied, "Who do you think you're talking to?" Usually when someone approaches me like that, I always have a comeback but surprisingly this time, I was speechless. And the rest is history...

It was the evening of July 5, 2017, while we were in the kitchen making a sandwich and having a normal conversation about work and friends. As Edletha had her back turned towards me, I began to talk about how I was getting tired of the way she responded to people when they asked if we were engaged yet. She would always hold up her hand to motion that there was no ring on her finger. So I stated, "I guess I need to do something about that." Of course her response was, "You said it, not me." And as she began to finish making her sandwich, I got off the chair and began slowly dropping to the floor, motioning to my back as if I were in pain. This was nothing out of the ordinary for me because I had recently had some lower back problems so I used that to my advantage. As she walked towards me and reached out to help me, thinking I was in pain, I took that opportunity to get down on one knee. I told her I think I found what was hurting me to initiate my queue to present the ring. Once she said, "What is bothering you? Is it your back again?," I proceeded to grab the ring from my back pocket. It took her a good minute to realize that I was really not in pain and was actually trying to ask her to marry me but once she did, she walked away in disbelief that it was finally happening and needed a moment to gather herself. I then asked, "Will you marry me?" Her answer, "Yes," made me the luckiest man in the world. After we kissed and hugged, she proceeded to hit me in the chest and fussed for about 15 minutes telling me to never pull another prank like that that may require medical assistance.