I’d like to be able to say that at one point in my life I had never questioned their existence or even the existence of love at all. I’d imagined me to be the last “Prince” of any of my fellow mates to seek and acquire a betrothed. The thought of a long-sustained bachelorhood filled with fast cars and free reigns seemed like the best fit for a boy like me. It wasn’t until I laid my eyes on and met Christine that I immediately thanked God for an answer to a prayer that I didn’t know I so desperately needed. We were both East Carolina Pirates and both a part of the same Church group but had yet to cross paths. On an early football game day each of us had decided to stop by the tailgate for that church group in passing. The motive for me and my good friend was beer and the motive for her and her friend was a breakfast sandwich. I’ve always imagined seeing this very moment in an aerial view, watching my clear path as one and hers as one up until the point we would meet and go on to walk the same path, but I guess that is truly only God’s moment to enjoy. When my eyes met Christine’s and I heard her speak for the first time I felt a certain special way. A kind of way that makes people say and do crazy things but I knew I had to play it cool and make sense of it all later. I had never been so thankful for my buddy's innate sense to stroll over to the nearest pack of beautiful girls. The four of us found ourselves together and chatting with ECU Pirates all around us, shouting and partying - doing what they do best. For me, it was quiet, I heard one voice. It was almost like I was immersed in space and watching an angel gleam and speak before me. Fortunately for me, I knew I had caught her attention. We would go on to walk up and view the football game together and she would preciously laugh at my terrible jokes.

I don’t even remember the score or if we won, I could only think about the next time I would get to see her. We would go on later that evening for dinner and close the night with a bicep squeeze and a piggy back ride. Flash forward to our first date, the next day... I stood outside my mustang (noble steed) awaiting for her to make a stunning exit out of her dorm room castle and into my car. We went to church for our first date. I don’t remember much from that mass but I remember thanking God. To the annoyance of many of our friends and roommates we would go on to spend 24/7 together for our remaining college days and I couldn’t have spent that time any better. I knew that Christine was the one for me, I’ve never been more confident about anything in my entire life. I started saving for a ring soon after we met and after a 3-year journey of love, laughs and sometimes tears, I found myself standing in front of the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in the gardens at Tryon’s Palace. Knowing her love for history, Pepsi and Victorian age romances I felt compelled to whisk her away to nowhere else but New Bern, NC. Following a historic walkthrough of Tryon’s palace, I took Christine by the hand to the end of the gardens overlooking the water. I removed the ring from my best hiding place with a small piece of paper that I had poured my heart out onto in writing the night before, anxious I would be lost for words and forgot what to say in the moment. I got down on one knee and said the four words I had been dreaming of saying to her since the day we met. I want nothing more than to make Christine my wife. October 22, 2021 (also the day we began dating in 2015) will be the day where my dreams come true and I know now more than ever that love at first sight and true love does exist and I know that our fairy-tale will be a beautiful eternal journey, especially when Christ is at the center.