Gabby's Version Our first time hanging out was quite memorable. It was kind of on a whim and I had the time of my life. Our school hosted an event and afterward he hosted a cocktail hour. When this was over, we decided to head out to different spots around Atlanta and I guess keep the party going. He and I ate, danced, laughed, and just had a great time for hours. Afterward, we were almost inseparable. Before this moment, I first met Ricky at Candler School of theology during orientation. I make fun of him because that first semester while I was deep in my books, he would find me in the library and make sure I made it safely to my car after studying late on campus. He became the perfect study partner. We talked about everything from theology to my favorite female rap artist. We determined we were exclusively dating, as we were walking our favorite Atlanta beltline trail. I was so excited because I already knew he was the one. After surviving three hard years of grad school and the pandemic lockdowns we knew we could make it through anything. February 23rd, 2022 the same day he asked me to be his gf 3 years earlier, Ricky proposed on the Atlanta beltline at the James room. I’m happy to be loved and cherished by Rick and I’m looking forward to a lifetime of loving him. I’m also so blessed that he has an amazing family who I have the pleasure of joining. God is so good. I am so excited to be marrying the man that I love- see y’all on May 6th! Rickys Version I remember seeing Gabby for the first time, on campus at Candler School of Theology. I had just gotten off the elevator and as soon as I turned the corner she was walking my way with some guy. She had her hair pulled back in a bun and this one-piece romper on with a focused face ready to tackle the challenges of being a first-year theology student. I remember saying to myself, "Oh she's a cute lil Christian girl" and kept it moving. Eventually, we would run into each other throughout campus or at parties and we began to develop a friendship. If I had to pick a moment that began our journey together, I'd refer to October 5th. That day, the black student caucus hosted a spoken word night and I was hosting an unofficial afterparty at a restaurant down the street from campus. Gabby and I had developed a friendship by now but things began to evolve after the afterparty. The party was over and everyone left to go to the next spot to continue partying. Gabby was the only one who stayed with me and we paired up to go to different places around the city. I knew after that night we would never be the same. After a few conversations as friends, it didn't take long for me to recognize that she was someone who I could see myself marrying. She was beautiful, funny, fun, a leader, and she caused me to examine some things within myself that I needed to work on. We would spend a lot of time walking and talking on The Beltline. The Beltline is our favorite spot. It has seen some of our best times as well as our worst. That's where we decided to become exclusive and that's also where I proposed.