We both served as wyldlife leaders at Wichita Collegiate. Bekah while she was in high school, and Ryan while he was in college. Three years ago, Bekah's friend, Sam, invited her to come back from college for a weekend to come to a Collegiate wyldlife event, where she and Ryan first met. We reconnected in December 2022 on a Young Life ski trip, where we got "set up" by a bunch of high school senior girls, who continually told me "Ryan is so in love with you." Ryan told me he liked me in a group chat with eight high school girls, we went on a date, did medium distance, and six months later here we are!
Here's how Bekah remembers it :) This story is so funny & so special to us... We went to Target, and Ryan bought me my favorite deodorant. We ate dinner at Slim Chickens, and then we went back to Ryan's house and watched Sing 2, which ended with me crying. The best part of the night: it was Christmas break and his roommates had not been home for a bit, so their bathroom hadn't been cleaned. I let Ryan know that I had to go to the bathroom, and he decided we needed to clean the bathroom first, which resulted in me cleaning the toilet bowl. He will make sure I tell people I volunteered to do it, but still!
RYAN: January 10th. We had a conversation sitting on the floor of my room about the future and what that looked like, and I was sure I could see myself marrying Bekah. I knew I loved her on February 10th and have a screenshot to prove it, if she tries to tell you she loved me first. BEKAH: On February 13, Ryan got home from Boston crazy early in the morning, and we had not seen each other in about two weeks. I notoriously do not like Valentine's Day, and let Ryan know that-- No chocolates. No flowers. No nothing on Valentine's Day. I had a busy, overwhelming few days at school. Little to my knowledge, Ryan turned his location off and drove two hours, while I was in class, to bring me flowers and give me a hug. In total, he drove 4 hours to see me for less than an hour. And I just knew... he was it for me!
June 30, 2023! Ryan had spent a while googling and planning a proposal with Eley's help, and on the day of had the perfect excuse, 18 holes of golf with Stephen, while Bekah went to a "dress cute" dinner with her best friend. Bekah will happily tell people that she was a little annoyed to be dressing up to eat burgers and fries, and she did not even take time to brush her hair. During dinner, Eley mentioned she had something at her house to show Bekah. When we got there, Bekah said hi to the Johnsons, and Corey asked her to go look at something outside, and there was Ryan. He had played golf earlier in the day, but he had spent the last few hours with trusted friends setting up the proposal spot-- my best friend's backyard of all places! After the proposal, we took some quick photos and went to an intimate engagement party! Bekah said in the proposal video, "I knew it," but Ryan would like to note that she had no clue at all.