We met in the second semester of 8th grade when Isaiah transferred to Mountain Empire Middle School from being homeschooled most of his life (7th grade). I had a crush on Grayce, but she seemed resistant to all my compliments and kindness toward her. While Isaiah had a crush on me, I thought he was annoying and immature. Due to Grayce's obvious disliking of me I saw her as stuck-up and prude. We strongly disliked each other for the ensuing 4 years. Toward the end of Junior year of high school, all in an instant, we went from distant hostility to inseparable best friends. Our mutual best friend was expected to transfer schools and we both had overtly somber days. On my way to track practice I "happened" to cross paths with Grayce as she headed to softball practice. I vividly recall seeing Grayce walking toward me, corner of the quad, sad and sulky as was I. The moment we made eye contact she dropped her sports bags, briskly walked straight over and buried her head in my chest and cried. I remember wishing our friend had left much sooner... only kidding! From that moment on we had been best friends. We went our separate ways for college and didn't really talk much for the first two years. During the summer between sophomore and junior year of college we both started working at Pine Valley Bible Camp. Isaiah worked as a counselor on the program team, and I worked an internship with the program team as a schedule manager. Being together again and having two years of unknown life experiences to catch up on gave us plenty of reason to spend every possible minute together. We began officially dating a couple months after the summer ended, and.. well.. you know how that turned out.

April 29th, Long Beach State University, softball senior day. The Long Beach girls had just concluded a series against conference rivals, Cal Poly. Fans observed as chosen friends and family joined the players on the field to honor the seniors. Athlete after athlete was announced, accolades applauded, and commitment to the program honored. As the ceremony drew to a close, the girls gathered on the mound for a picture. Right on cue; "we have one final special event before we conclude tonight's senior ceremonies," took the crowd by surprise. A silent pause, Jason Derulo's "Marry Me" faded into play as the crowd stood clueless and curious. The seniors looked around (as did everyone) for an answer. As my family and Grayce's already had phones out and cameras on, the seniors turned and it didn't take much more to put it together. The clued-in coaches gestured for the girls to come off the mound. Hand-over-mouths the girls left Grayce stranded on the island of attention. The crowd gasped as I emerged from them to approach an absolutely beautiful, dirt-covered, and sweaty softball player that I would soon ask to be my wife! Cheer and applause broke out before a word was uttered. A teary-eyed Grayce made me just about lose composure. A clearing of the throat, a somewhat rehearsed 4-liner (I decided during the game that it might be a good idea to know what to say), a nod to the announcer to cue the music again, a heart full of joy and excitement, and now it was time. "Grayce, Elizabeth Majam," a bend of the knee as "will you marry me" echoed in the background, and then ----- a blue raspberry ring pop! Grayce quickly nodded yes as she chuckled, but I pulled it away and handed it off. Then, the real ring. As the crowd roared at the emerge of the actual ring, the question; "will you marry me?" Again, a crying Grayce quickly said yes. An extended embrace followed by a swarming of the team and many congratulations ended the first senior day to conclude with a newly engaged couple