The Beginning of Our Forever

I never believed the books or movies when they talked about love at first sight, but I knew on that day I had met someone whose soul matched mine. I was working at the Athens Area Humane Society at the time and saw Matt as he got out of his car. He was wearing a Harry Potter Gryffindor t-shirt. I immediately called dibs on showing him around and being his adoption counselor! When he walked inside, our receptionist asked what we could help him with today. He said he was looking to adopt a cat and I SWOONED. I jumped right in and offered to show him our adoptable cats, ushering him into the main cat room. As I did, I commented that I liked his shirt and that’s when conversation sparked. We played with kittens in the interaction room and talked about everything under the sun for well over two hours. Eventually, I realized I should probably get back to work and walked him to the lobby. He said, “Well, I didn’t find a cat today, so I guess I’ll be back later this week.” Realizing I might not be at work next time he visited AAHS, I blurted, “Well, you’re going to have to give me your number just in case I’m not working when you visit next.” He agreed and we exchanged phones to add our numbers. He’s still in my phone as “Matt Greene That Cat Dude.” That day Matt walked into the Humane Society and walked out with my heart.

Buying the ring was easy. Lauren had a very specific style, shape, and appearance that she wanted out of the ring. All that those details were given to me with clear instructions. However, she had only one instruction when it came to how she wanted me to propose. "I want it to be a surprise," she said. I had no idea where or how to ask her but, to me, picking the right spot was just as important as getting the ring. When I started to brainstorm places to propose, one particular place stood out. It's a place that Lauren considers her "favorite place in the world." That place is NGM camp. It's a small camp in middle Georgia that Lauren has attended every summer for the last fifteen years. Many of her favorite childhood memories and friends were made at this camp. It was the perfect place to make one more memory. Camp lasts six days and by the end of the week, everybody was in on the plan. Everybody except for Lauren of course; she was still clueless. After being a team counselor with Lauren, I was going to ask her to be my wife on banquet night, in front of all the campers we had been leading. I wrote her a letter as if it were a camper writing her a thank you note for being her counselor. The camp director asked her to come up in front of the camp to read the note out loud. As Lauren read the note to everyone, she started to realize that it was a proposal note. That's when I stepped in behind her and got down on one knee. She said "Yes!" and our team of campers would go on to win that year's camp competition. We even got ribbons. What made it even better was I had been sneaking the ring into group pictures throughout the week. So after it was all done, she had pictures to look at where the ring was inches away from her, and she had no idea.