Wedding bells were ringing when we were first introduced at his sisters wedding. Although it was a brief encounter, he wooed me with pictures of his dogs and we agreed on a first date. It was not the smoothest first date for either of us. Eventually though, there were fireworks. On July 4th, James had a day off and drove the 45 minutes to see me at work and he pitched in and started helping. We cleaned up, went to dinner at the only place open and ended the evening with a walk around the neighborhood watching the Fourth of July neighborhood fireworks show. Conversation was easy, and we realized the company was superb. Our love story started with a wedding and fireworks and it became our fairy tale.

November 11 2020 I went to work like normal. James said he was going to bring me a Starbucks PSL as a treat. He is so kind to me on the long fall mornings at the farm that I thought nothing of it. Standing in the barn aisle chatting away with a friend and he asks me to come and speak to him at the other end of the barn. He asks me what time it is and I look at a clock with the wrong time. He pulls out his phone and shows me 11:11 and gets down on one knee. It was the perfect day at the perfect moment in time. 11/11 at 11:11. I was able to say yes to my veteran on Veterans Day at a time that has significant meaning to me.