We met at the local hangout Bibb Skating Rink. It was the place to be when you were in school. Kids from all over Bibb county would get dropped off at the door and picked up after spending their entire Friday and sometimes Saturday nights there. Luckily for me it was a place I got to go without my brothers. Without them there to keep boys away, Casey was able to ask me to be his girlfriend. Now what happened after that is one thing that we don’t agree on. I know that he broke up with me to skate backwards with another girl, while he thinks I broke up with him. Nevertheless, we are both so grateful for that place as without it we wouldn’t be here today.

Fast forward about 10 years, Casey has moved away and comes back to Macon to see his dad for Father’s day. I saw that he was in town because he posted a picture of him that was taken at Fish n Pig, which is a restaurant that is on the one lake Macon has. I liked the picture of course because, hello have you seen that smile!? I sent him a message to see how he had been and he asked if I wanted to grab a beer after I got off work. Now the first thing going through my mind is that I have been sweating for over 8 hours outside from lifeguarding with no makeup on, or in my car. Oh well because I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to see him before he went back to Atlanta. Meeting him at Just Tapped after work was one of the best decisions of my life. His sweet smile and laugh were the exact same as I remembered from when we were younger. Smitten all over again I went to what I now know is not Atlanta at all, but Cumming to see him a few weeks later for our first official date. Casey was also completely off limits for dating or talking to according to my brother Willie when I was growing up. And if you know my brother then you know you kinda just do what he says because no one wants to see him mad! Well I didn’t ask him if I could go on a date and he wouldn’t have been able to stop me if he tried. We went to Movie Tavern and got to drink a beer while watching a movie and eating dinner. By far the coolest thing to me because we did not have things like that growing up in Macon. I had so much to learn about life outside of Macon, and luckily I had just reconnected with the best teacher.

We started officially dating according to Casey on Valentines Day when he took me to a cabin in Gatlinburg. I think it was a few months later when we were on the way to test drive a new car for him when I asked him point blank if someone asked if he had a girlfriend what his answer would be. We were doing a long distance relationship and putting way too many miles on our cars and decided that when I was finished with my last in person semester that I would move up to Cumming. When I moved up we lived with roommates and after about a year we moved into a basement apartment, just the two of us. That’s where we were living when I knew that he was the man I was going to marry. He picked me up in one of the darkest times of my life and without him I wouldn’t have made it through any of it. We decided that we needed to start saving for a home of our own and moved into his moms house for a year before we found our home. We are over moving every year and are in love with our home that we have together. Blessed is an understatement.

We got invited to go to Charleston to celebrate our friend Kayla’s birthday and drove up after work that Friday to spend the weekend there. Little did I know that Casey had other plans. Klane, Kayla, Casey and I went to breakfast at a place that had the best biscuits ever, then for a walk on the beach to burn them off. Then we went to the market to window shop, and bless Casey’s heart it was a nerve wrecking time. I was completely oblivious and just said that I was hungry could we please get to another place to eat. Kayla said there were a ton of restaurants by the water so I waited patiently, and kept walking. She said she had to get a photo in front of a pineapple fountain that they took photos in front of every year and so we took one all together. Then they stepped in front of us to take our picture and Casey spun me around to look at him and then he got down on his knee. I was crying before he said anything and so was he. He said “Will you marry me?” I said yes and gave him the wrong hand because I was so surprised and out of sorts. My knees have stopped shaking from then, and we are able to talk without crying now. There isn’t anyone else I want to cry with and I know that when I walk down the isle we will be doing the same thing all over again. I am so thankful for the boy that lived on my road, that grew up to be the man I love and will spend the rest of my life with. God gave us each other and we are so excited to celebrate with the ones we love.