We met on my very first day of work at Kendal at Lexington in July 2017. I was suffering from a coughing fit while I was with my first patient of the day. Derek and I were introduced by my patient while she asked him for a glass of water. My face was red and I probably had tears streaming down my face when he set eyes on me. I felt like he had saved my life with that glass of water! We worked across the hall from each other for almost a whole year all the while stealing glances at each other but never exchanging anything more than “Good morning!” or “Hey, how are you?” Unbeknownst to Derek, I had developed a crush on him and shortly after, we were matched by a mutual friend. Texting turned into dates and dates turned into love! Just under two years after meeting and here we are getting married! -Hope

Two weeks before the proposal date is when the moment began. I planned to, somehow, convince Hope to come to Lynchburg on the 18th (also her birthday). Everything was easily put in place since Hope recommended for us to visit Lynchburg for the day. I even had a photographer lined up to be on Liberty’s campus to take the perfect shot of our moment. I had the perfect setup for Hope to be surprised: we were supposed to meet one of my classmates for a textbook. Our photographer took on the the fake persona of a Liberty Journal writer and convinced us to take photos for next month’s article. Little did Hope know, she was actually being surprised with a ring and her guy on his knee asking one very important question while at the Jerry Falwell Memorial Garden. Hope responded with a jaw-dropping response of “Yes!” which ignited the beginning of our journey. -Derek