Renardis and I met many years ago when he walked into the furniture store I worked at. I asked him, "What are you looking for? He said, "A mattress." I showed him all we had in stock and our best-selling ones. He said he wanted to go to another store to see what they had. I told him to leave me a deposit because I knew he'd be back. A few days later, he came back and made the purchase. We exchanged numbers, and that was the beginning of our friendship. Through the years, we maintained a great friendship. We supported each other through our ups and downs. Eventually, life took us in separate directions. One Sunday, my phone rang, and it was him calling; he said, "Hey, how ya doin'? I'm calling to check on you." We chatted for hours, and we agreed to meet for lunch. The following week, we meet up at Applebees. It was crazy; we spent hours talking and reminiscing - we chatted so much that neither of us even took a bite of our food. We realized how much we still had in common and wanted to achieve. At that moment, it was understood that the stars were aligned for us to embark on this new journey together.

Several months ago, as I was praying, I realized what I was praying for was right in front of me. Family and friends around me kept telling me they saw a glow within me. I really didn't understand it then until it finally hit me: I was in love. Then and only then I knew I needed to do the right thing by making Merva Dixon into Merva Rhymer. Finding out what type of diamond cut she liked was hard, but after talking to her, I got it. Next, I had to plan the place, time, and setting. Our family vacation was coming up in a few months, and I knew this would be the perfect opportunity to pop the question. We booked a family boat excursion, and my original plan was to propose at sea, but it didn't work out. Holding and hiding the ring for all these months, and no one knew, felt like an eternity. Through prayer and a lot of stressing, I remembered we both love to work out and be on the beach watching the sunrise. I thought that would be the perfect setting to propose, so I had Merva thinking I was going to show my brother Jah and Tyna, his wife, a workout routine. As I played my favorite song, I had her sit in the sand, and I got down on one knee and asked her, "Will you marry me?" With tears in her eyes, she said, "Yes!!" We're so excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you. See you in Punta Cana!