We both grew up in our sweet little home town of Yorktown, Virginia. We attended Mt. Vernon Elementary, and Tabb Middle and High School. We lived three streets away, rode the bus together and Sam was the star student in Mr. Dow's math class (Sam was the second favorite student... everyone else was tied for first). Time passed as we both graduated high school and left Yorktown to pursue this life ahead of us. I went on to attend The Ohio State University where I had the opportunity to compete as a college gymnast for the Buckeyes. In 2008, Sam took a big leap to pursue his first love of music and moved to Nashville. A few years later and a few fortunate turns of events, I moved to Nashville to pursue my Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Tennessee State. Sam, the gentleman that he is, so graciously moved me up 3 flights of stairs into my apartment (one of the best decisions of his life!) Sam and I spent three years together in Nashville becoming really good friends. Sam flourished in his music career from playing gigs on Broadway to traveling the country. After graduation, I left Nashville to work at the Children's Hospital in Dallas, TX. Sam continued to excel in his career as he signed a record deal, and was in the top forty billboard charts with his song on country radio. Years continued and every Christmas, Sam's music brought him to Dallas to play a yearly show which he asked me to be his date. We caught up, laughed, jammed to music, and became best friends. After the third year, timing matched up and we quickly discovered that we were not only best friends, but wanted to be more. After spending most of our lives in the same place and knowing each other for almost our whole lives, we decided to wait until we were both in completely different states to begin dating. It only took 10 months of dating to jump to the next chapter...

It didn’t take long for me to see that this was the person God had intended for me to be with. I knew very quickly into our relationship that I truly found the person that was the absolute love of my life. So quickly in fact that when I first told her “I love you” she responded “I’m getting there...” Music.to.my.ears! Well it was off to the races after that! I immediately started looking at rings, a few months later I had one specially made, and asked her parents on a trip in Dallas. Fast forward to Christmas when I planned to pop the question! Hilly flew into Nashville on Dec 23 and we drove all night to get to Virginia early Christmas Eve. I was exhausted but couldn’t sleep! I was going to drive her to Yorktown Beach, where we both grew up. Hill had made us bracelets with the coordinates there when we first started dating to remind us of each other and home when we missed each other living in different states. So there I am, Christmas Eve, driving to the beach for a nice romantic walk. Have you ever planned something over days, weeks, and even months and then when the time comes you forget to take your coat off while in the car and the windows are up and you’re sweating profusely? Well it happens. We parked downed the beach. She asked me if I was feeling ok, probably because of the sweat on my hands and face. I played it off cool and walked us underneath the gazebo. My brother and sister in law had decorated it before we got there. This is where I got down on one knee and asked her to make me the luckiest man in the world. She looked at me with a huge smile on her face but didn’t say anything. We kissed and held each other and then she said “Wait did I say yes!?” I told her “..not yet” to which she quickly replied “YES!” I surprised Hill with taking engagement pictures right after. We shared a beer in celebration down at Yorktown Pub before meeting our families for Christmas Eve church and dinner. What a way to end 2018 and look forward to an exciting 2019!