It all started at a high school Halloween party. I made the decision that this party was the perfect time for me to ask Liz for her phone number. I had gotten to know Liz in a class we had together, and she was the most laid back and easy-going girl I had ever met. She was also really smart which I loved, and I knew I needed to somehow get to know this girl better. So myself, Matt, Grant, and Nathan spent the day of the Halloween party designing our ninja turtle costumes and I knew Liz wouldn’t be able to resist a man in uniform. Once we got to the party, I saw Liz who was not wearing any Halloween costume and went up to greet her. “I’m a ninja turtle,” I said. she replied, “I can see that….” I eventually asked for her phone number and we started talking on a daily basis. We began spending more and more time with each other which eventually led to me asking her to be my girlfriend in the rain outside of my parents’ house. (The rain was planned for extra romance) I can still distinctly remember the first time I went to the Lace household for dinner to meet Liz’s parents. In the middle of dinner Mr. Lace asked me “So John, why do you think I should let you date my daughter?” I don’t remember exactly what I responded with, in fact I am pretty sure I blacked out, but he seems to remember a decent enough response and that’s really all that matters. Some of my favorite memories from Liz and my high school days are getting to go to each other’s sporting events at Hoggard. I was convinced Liz was the best soccer player I had ever seen, and she was always so supportive of me with lacrosse. Women’s soccer and lacrosse both being spring sports, Liz and I would use the 30 minutes after school before our practices everyday spending time together. We are fortunate enough to still be so close with many of our high school friends to this day and be able to reminisce on many of the memories from back then.

This past October, I decided it was time to talk to my family, Liz’s family, buy an engagement ring, and propose. The whole process was seamless. Liz and I had a trip to Punta Cana planned for the end of November which would be the perfect setting for a proposal. I nervously packed the engagement ring in a side pocket of my carry-on bag and never let it out of my sight. On November 29th, 2018, the third day of our vacation, I decided on the perfect time and location to do the proposal. With the help of our butler and some of the other resort staff, I proposed to Liz on the beach, her favorite place in the world. I couldn’t have asked for it to play out any better and the entire vacation was a dream.

When Liz and I were in high school, I can remember being so convinced that she was the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with and wondering if things would work out that way. Before leaving Wilmington to go to college, I was so hopeful that nothing would change and that we would make it through the long-distance relationship together. Although we weren’t together the entire time through college, one thing always remained the same and that was that we always found our way back to each other. Throughout the last 10 years, Liz and I have grown together, and I can’t wait for a lifetime of experiences with her as my wife.