11 . 19 . 2022

Kirk and I met in June of 2013 at Warren W. Willis United Methodist Summer Camp. God knew what he was doing when he put us in the same small group. “Camp Romances” were a big taboo at church camp, but I was crushing hard on Kirk. He heard me say that I was from Cocoa Beach and assumed that meant I was a surfer chick. I guess I played along and let him think so.... Kirk got my number off the small group contact list and hit me up to keep in touch. July 2013, just a month after meeting at camp, Kirk made the first of many “surf trips” to Cocoa Beach. Over the next year or so, whenever the waves were good or Kirks friends were down to make the drive to the East Coast, he’d come visit me in Cocoa Beach. Each of those visits built a friendship and the foundation for an amazing love story. After four years of friendship, finally in the right time and place— Florida State University— we started dating and spent our last year of college tailgating, celebrating, studying, graduating and figuring out the whole adulting thing together. -Maddi

Memorial Day weekend 2021 we booked a hotel room on Clearwater Beach for “my birthday”. The hotel was just a few buildings down from where Maddi and I had our first kiss many years earlier. Does it get any more obvious what is coming next? Maddi told her friends, “There’s no way he’d propose this weekend, there’s too much going on.” Little did she know I had it all planned out. Of course, this was not a one-man job and would not have been possible without the help of my mom, sisters and a few close friends. Saturday, May 29th arrived a lot faster than I expected. I was lucky I got any sleep the night before (thank you green tea shots). The day was planned out perfectly. We had plans to hangout on the beach with some friends, lay by the pool and end the day with a fancy dinner with my whole family. The fancy dinner was for “my birthday & my sister’s graduation”. Maddi’s suspicions began when I declined to crack open a white claw at 10am. Hmm, weird.. Kirk loves white claws on the beach. Her next clue was when I decided to iron my shorts. When do I iron my shorts? Never. But I knew there were going to be a lot of pictures and I did not want wrinkled shorts. Maddi will say she was surprised, but rumor has it she saw the giant ring box in my pocket! It is IMPOSSIBLE to hide those things. We arrived for our 7PM dinner on Sand Key Beach right on time, but our reservation was really at 7:30 PM. With a slick text from my dad, (“Sorry for the mix up. The reservation is for 7:30 not 7. See you in a bit”) the best way to kill some time was a walk on the beach. Sand Key Beach may be the widest beach in America because it felt like we were walking for hours. I had arranged for a photographer to capture the moment just on the water’s edge. I could not think of a better spot to ask the love of my life to marry me. The beach is where we find ourselves smiling the most. The smiles we both had when I got down on one knee will be a moment I cherish forever. She said YES! -Kirk