It was November 2011, we were 16 years old, and had absolutely no idea that would be the day. The day we would meet the person who we would spend the rest of our lives with. I was going to see friends at the Creek in Vickery. When I got out of my car I noticed this guy walking up from the creek. He was covered in mud, his jeans and shoes were soaking wet. He was the most handsome guy I had ever seen. We passed each other going opposite directions, and didn't break eye contact once. I immediately thought, who is that guy, and why does he have to leave the moment I arrive!? I get to the creek and very causally start asking questions about this muddy mystery man. “Who was he?” “Why was he wet?” and most importantly, “Is he coming back?” I was secretly wishing with every passing minute that he would indeed come back. A couple hours past and I was starting to lose hope. We all ended up leaving the creek and heading towards the fire pit, our usual hang out spot. It was getting darker, and the fire grew larger, then all of the sudden there he was. Walking towards the fire pit wearing a letterman jacket, glasses, and a new pair of jeans. I’m sure in that moment my eyes grew three times their size. Then he decided to play a song on his phone. My all-time favorite song, with maybe a little too much excitement I said, “Is this Lights”?” he responded with a surprised smile, “Yeah, you like this kind of music?” I replied, “I love it!”. Later, we find out find out we have even more in common, like our last names! We spent the remainder of the evening talking to each other, as if we were the only people at the fire pit, and our fifteen friends were nowhere around. Now, seven and a half years later Grayson and I can still be in a room with 100 people and feel as if we are the only ones. We are each other’s very best friend, we have grown up together, and now we celebrate the moment we vow to grow old together.

It was March of 2018. Gray had graduated a few months prior, and I was in my last semester. It was my spring break, and his parents let us stay a few days at their lake house. It was rainy, cold, and we had to paint their dock, but it was probably the best spring break either one of us have ever had. Our semi-long distance relationship being at two different schools made times like these so special. Thats when our friends called wanting everyone to get together for a soccer game happening at Tech. We all needed to stay at a hotel, and somehow we got hooked into a 'free vacation'. At first we thought it was a ridiculous money scam, but then we thought that would our best chance to go to the beach without costing us a fortune. Two weeks after I graduated we were off to Myrtel Beach. We were so excited, this cheesy sales call turned into our first trip with just one another. We woke up early, and headed out to walk the beach. We walked for miles, I kept asking Gray when a good time to turn around would be, and he kept saying how he wanting to walk further. The sun was getting higher in the sky, hotter by the minute. At mile 10 we stopped. It was the first place we'd seen with no other people around. I couldn't take the heat any longer, so I jumped right into the ocean waves. I go back to the beach where Gray was sitting. I try to sit down. Thats when he hugged me, and pulled me back up to a standing position. As his knee met the sand, he reached down to his pocket, looked up at me and said, "Breanna Alexandra Smith will you marry me?" The greatest flow of emotion and absolute joy was pouring from both of us. For whatever reason the 10 mile walk back to the hotel passed by in what seemed like seconds. The heat didn’t bother us, our feet didn’t hurt. We were just in the moment, realizing what new and exciting changes are in store. Knowing that there will be many more memories to be made, places to experience, people to meet, but one thing will remain the same. Us.