Taiye and I met on a dating app in Fall of 2021 shortly after my 40th birthday. I had not been very successful with dating apps previously but was going to give it ‘one last try’. After messaging on the app for a bit, we exchanged numbers and he asked me out on a date. 11/10/21 we met in person for our first date at Melt Restaurant in Greensboro, NC. We continued to date, hung out together for New Year’s Eve, and fell in Love at the top of 2022. Taiye and I share a love for traveling so after officially becoming a couple, we spent the rest of 2022 traveling the world and falling more in love! ❤️

After months and months of searching across the country, I found just the right ring in Dallas. This is after I had an idea of what kind of ring she wanted after slyly deciding to check out a jewelry store while we were vacationing in the Bahamas and noting the types of rings she gravitated to. We had another trip coming up days before Christmas 2022, and I knew it would be a beachy destination, but, wasn't quite sure which one would work, because as you all know, we fly standby, and people have been filling up these seats! Initially, my bet was on Cabo, Punta Cana, or Mexico, but when seats started to disappear, Bonaire came to the rescue! I had just flown to Dallas (for the 3rd time) days before to get the ring in person, rather than count on Jared's shipping to be on time, now I just needed to figure out when and how. We got to Bonaire and spent the first day hanging around town, and there were no good openings to make it happen. On day 2, we decided to take to the waters, looking at boat rides and the sort. We found one that was leaving from downtown shortly, headed to Klein Beach (aka Little Bonaire), a small island off the coast of Bonaire proper, and Kesha was already booking the taxi from the front desk. Unfortunately, the ring was still hiding in my luggage in the hotel room. I made up an excuse that I needed to change my shirt and grab a towel and ran to the room to get the ring and get back before the taxi got there. We get downtown and hop on the ferry to the remote island where the only man-made structure was a small covered bench area to wait for the ferry to return. We hopped off and walked around the beach for an hour or so; all the while, I was looking for the right place away from others to prop my camera and pop the question. There was no place that would work. After about 2 hours, it was time for the next ferry to come back, and I needed to make my move. There would be no better backdrop than the one we currently had. I first asked an older couple to take our picture and planned to have them take video, but again, I didn't have the ring on me, it was in my bag on the bench, and they were very quick to take the picture. After that, I went and got the ring and asked a lovely couple that was waiting in that area to help me video the proposal and pretend to take a picture on the coastline. So I stand there slightly nervous as she thinks we're taking a picture and started speaking back to a question she asked me earlier that day from a relationship questionnaire that I told her I'd come back to later; "What were my plans for 2023?" I got down on one knee and answered; "One of the things I would like in 2023 is for you to marry me..." She didn't say; "Yes" - She said, "Of course I will!!"