Terry enjoys teasing and often remarks that love struck him at first sight, claiming that he knew he'd marry Kelsey one day. The actual beginning of their story, however, was quite different. Terry and Kelsey's paths first crossed at Warrant Officer Candidate School in Fort Rucker, Alabama. Both were required to attend this school as the initial step in their journey to become Army helicopter pilots. Terry hailed from the North Carolina National Guard, while Kelsey represented the Ohio National Guard. Although this wasn't the origin of their romantic tale, it marked their very first encounter. At Warrant Officer Candidate School, Terry and Kelsey exchanged only a few words, and once the course concluded, they returned to their respective states to await the next phase of their training. Little did they know that a few years down the road, they'd be busy making plans for the lifelong journey they would embark on together.

The day started at the crack of dawn, 5 a.m. to be exact. The sun had yet to rise as Terry and Kelsey groggily put on their uniforms and brewed their morning coffee. This was their routine for the past six months while stationed at Davison Army Airfield (KDAA) in Northern Virginia. But on this particular day, Terry had something special in store. Terry and Kelsey had never been scheduled together as a flight crew before, but this particular Friday was different because Terry’s copilot needed Kelsey to fill in. Little did she know, they were about to embark on a unique and carefully planned adventure. They climbed into their UH-60 Blackhawk that morning, ran it up and checked the engines like they would on any given day. After the morning checks, they went inside, got briefed to fly and prepped for their flight. They climbed back into the helicopter as copilots, their hearts pounding with anticipation, ready to fly over the capital of this great Nation, like they had many times before. They had a nice flight, landed safely and powered down the aircraft, Terry had a surprise up his sleeve. He wanted to capture this monumental moment, so they posed for a photograph in front of their faithful helicopter. As they were posing for a picture Abbey and Nick popped out of a helicopter where they had been hiding. Terry had snuck them up to DC as a surprise. Little did Kelsey know, Terry had one more surprise in store. He dropped to one knee and, with all the love in his heart, asked Kelsey to spend her life with him. With a radiant smile, and a few tears shed, she uttered a heartfelt "yes" without a moment's hesitation.