One hot Charleston summer night in 2023, a group of my friends were at the Windjammer on Isle of Palms for a concert on the beach. When it had ended, Ryan was trying to convince everyone to stay for another band coming on the inside stage. He was meeting up with a girl (Kelsie) he’d met a few weeks earlier. Ryan mentioned that Kelsie was also bringing a friend (McClaine), the problem with that was that McClaine was supposed to be coming along with another guy. Like the great friend that I am, I was the only one that decided to stay with him fully thinking I was about to 5th wheel for the night. As we sat outside on the deck waiting, suddenly, a girl in a puffy shouldered pink romper sat down beside me and said, “Hi, I’m McClaine” with a southern accent straight out of Deliverance. I was drawn in right away by not only how beautiful she was but how effortless our conversation was. In the back of my mind, I was pissed because I knew she had come with another guy. I kept roaming my eyes around trying to figure out who it might be, but after a little more time, I realized that she must of not come with anyone after all. The stars aligned for me that night. I was on top of my game batting a clean 1.000. I knew we had hit it off and I knew I was going to do everything in my power to keep seeing her. After that night, we spent just about every weekend possible together. I knew early on that I wanted to start dating her but it did take a little convincing. Our gaping 3.5 year age gap was something that she didn’t know if she could get passed. Eventually, though I charmed her over and by that fall of 2023 we were officially dating. Fast forward to the beginning of 2025, I got her an Oura Ring for her birthday and let her know that was the only ring she’d be getting from me that year. Of course, that was not the actual plan. My 30th birthday was coming up in August, and a few weeks out she asked me where I wanted to go eat so that she could make reservations. I told her Jackrabbit Filly, a Chinese American cuisine. So naturally, she booked reservations at an Italian restaurant. Little did she know she wasn’t booking reservations for just my birthday but to celebrate our engagement. The day had finally come, I got off of work and went to pick her up to go out to dinner, I let her know that we were going to have to make a pit stop downtown Charleston at the Battery to pick something up from my boss for work. He lived right around the corner from the restaurant, and I had created a whole text thread with myself with my boss’s name as the contact to try and show McClaine so she wouldn’t expect anything to be up. We drove down to the Battery parked in front of my boss’s house and I showed McClaine the fake text saying that he was walking around the park right across the street with his wife and to just meet him at the gazebo. I convinced McClaine to get out of the car (even though she didn’t want to) and walk over to meet him with me. As we were standing “waiting” for him to arrive, I pointed over at a random guy walking over to get McClaine’s attention to turn around and look away. As she turned back around, I was down on one knee. She didn’t say a word for a solid minute and looking completely terrified and shocked, until I finally had to ask, “What’s your answer?” That finally snapped her out of the shock and she of course said yes. Like a good fiancé, I left the next day for a bachelor party while she had to work all weekend. A few short years after a girl in a pink romper sat down beside me at the Windjammer, we’re getting ready to do the whole thing in front of the people we love most. None of it would have happened if I hadn’t reluctantly stayed out a little bit longer that night to support my friend and I’ll be thanking Ryan for the rest of my life. We can’t wait to celebrate the next chapter with you all.