I lived in an apartment next door to the Bleu Pub where Mae occasionally worked, and I would frequent it to get a burger or beer or just to pop in and be a menace. I remember seeing her for the first time and thought she was so beautiful. I even asked one of my friends who she was. Well, we became fast acquaintances through mutual friends and over the years, we became good friends. Apparently, she also had feelings for me, but I had no idea. In 2018, Mae moved to Atlanta and I went on a deployment. When I got back in 2019, it became even more clear how much I liked her. In August of that year, she was in town dress shopping for a friend’s wedding and we met up to grab dinner and a beer. At the end of the night I went back up to my apartment and shortly after heard a knock on my door. I opened it, and it was Mae, confessing to me that she had a crush on me and had for a while. The following weekend, I came to visit her in Atlanta—the first of many trips, until she moved back to Valdosta. In April 2020, we got a house together and the rest is history.

Yes, you read that right. I’m the one who proposed, and I’ll tell you why and how it happened. When we started to get serious in our relationship, I expressed to Stephen that I didn’t want to get married. I just had never had any desire to do so from an early age, but assured him I was committed to him and didn’t plan on going anywhere. Fast forward to November 2021. Like most couples, we’ve been through ups and downs, and during those downs is when I realized he was the person I wanted to spend my life with, but I still wanted the big surprise proposal. Well, I didn’t want to tell him, “Hey, I changed my mind about marriage and you can propose to me now,” so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I wanted it to be intimate, special, and most of all, surprising. For Christmas, I got him a watch and had the leather band engraved with some sweet remarks that ended in me asking him to be my husband. He opened it Christmas Eve and was definitely surprised. So surprised, that he thought I was joking. Once he realized I was serious and the initial shock wore off, he finally said yes. Stephen is one of the best people I know, and he reminds me daily why I changed my mind about marriage and why I want to spend my life with him.