Back in 2017, my twin brother Rex met Sam in gym class. Throughout the school year, I would see them walking the halls together, but I didn’t know who Sam was at the time. Towards the end of the year, Rex finally introduced me to Sam while we were waiting for our buses. It was a very brief conversation. A few weeks later, Sam brought Rex McDonald's and delivered it to our house. I saw him that day, but I didn't say anything. It wasn't until mid-January that I finally got to know Sam better. While Rex and Sam were playing Xbox, I joined in on their conversation, and that's when Sam and I started to talk. After that day, Sam and I began hanging out more and more at school. We hit it off right away, and it wasn't long before we became best friends.

Planning to propose to Maggie was a lengthy process for me. I knew I wanted to propose to her, but the most important thing was for her to graduate college before that could happen. On December 8th, Maggie finally graduated college, and I got home from my deployment. Proposing was the next step on my list. A few days after Christmas, we began shopping for rings, which turned out to be the longest process of my life. Days went by, and Maggie finally found a ring that she liked. However, I had to wait a few days to get it, so she wouldn't get suspicious. I bought the ring, and it said it would take over two weeks to be made, which wasn't part of the plan. To my surprise, it arrived early, and the planning process began. On Wednesday, February 15th, I called Maggie's dad, and surprisingly, he had been waiting for this phone call since she graduated. I came home on President's Day weekend and planned to take Maggie out for a Valentine's Day dinner. On February 18th, we went to the beach and walked hand in hand on the sand down to the water. We watched as the sun was setting, and as she looked away, I dropped to one knee and asked her to marry me. Her dad, stepmom, brother, and my mom came out as they hid all down the beach watching it happen. It was one of the best days of my life.