It was a warm, sunny day, and I got up to get ready. I thought my mom and I were heading to Piedmont Park for public witnessing that morning. A few days earlier, she had told me some friends planned to meet us there, so I didn’t think twice. After getting ready, I sat on the couch waiting for her to come downstairs (as usual). When she finally did, she told me I looked pretty and snapped a quick picture—which wasn’t surprising, because if you know my mom, she takes pictures of me all the time. We set off for the park, about an hour away. On the drive, I noticed a few little gaps in her story but brushed them off. About five minutes before we arrived, I texted Elgin to make sure he was on schedule—me being the “time police”—since he was supposed to be driving from South Carolina (where he lives) to hang out later. My mom and I arrived at the park and got out of the car, but before we started, I wanted to check his location to see exactly how far he was. His location was turned off, which was odd, but before I could even say, “Why is Elgin’s location off?” out loud, my mom grabbed my hand and said, “Jada.” I looked up from my phone—and there he was, standing just a few feet away. I was shocked. Why was he here so early? Was he joining us for public witnessing too? Once I made my way over to him, he took my hand and led me up a grassy hill. Of course, in true Jada fashion, I said, “Elgin, my sandals are going to get dirty!” He just smiled and said, “Jada, please keep walking.” At the top was the most beautiful picnic set up with a sign that read “Will you marry me?”, but Elgin pretended not to see it in the distance. My mom stood off in the distance, just like I had always hoped—close enough to capture the moment but giving us our privacy. I even said to Elgin, “Is this ours? Because if not, we’re about to ruin someone else’s proposal.” Elgin just smiled and gave me a goofy look, and I said, “Wellll?” Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him after saying so many sweet and thoughtful words from the heart. And that picture my mom took of me earlier? Turns out it wasn’t just another one of her million photos—it was for the photographer, so he could find me and capture every second without me noticing until the ring was already on my finger. That’s how forever began with my Best Friend.

The morning started out like any other—or at least, that’s what I wanted Jada to think. I sent her my usual good morning text, casually letting her know I’d see her around 3 p.m. Meanwhile, I was already dressed up, out the door, and on the road to Georgia by 10:30 a.m.—heading straight toward the biggest surprise of our lives. To keep her from catching on, I timed my morning to look normal and even turned off my location (a risky move that would come back to haunt me later). At the park, I had a picnic set up—something I had been hinting at for weeks so it wouldn’t feel suspicious. I met up with my photographer to finalize the plan and was in contact with Jada’s mom, Mia, who was helping everything come together. Before they left, Mia sent me a picture of Jada looking absolutely stunning—which only made my nerves skyrocket. Sure enough, Jada noticed my location was missing and texted me asking where I was. I scrambled to reply that I was still at home packing. Let’s just say… I don’t think she bought it. When Mia dropped her off, I walked up and played it cool, saying I wanted to surprise her with a weekend together. I led her up the hill and right past the picnic setup, pretending not to notice. Then I gave my best “casual discovery” line: “Oh wow, what’s that? Let’s go take a look!” In my head, it felt like Oscar-worthy acting. In reality? Probably more like a bad TikTok skit. As soon as we got closer, Jada saw the sign that read “Will You Marry Me.” She froze. “Elgin, are you serious? Are you joking?” she asked over and over. I tried to play it off, but she saw right through me. Finally, I turned to her and told her how much I loved her, how—even though she drives me crazy sometimes—she is my everything and the person I want to spend forever with. Then came the moment—I got down on one knee, asked her to marry me, and she said yes. And just like that, our forever began.