The story of Nia and Kalvin is one of No Ordinary Love…pun intended. They met in 1998, “In the Land of Golden Sunshine” on the campus of Tennessee State University. There, they both ran track and were often bus seat partners when the Men’s & Women’s teams traveled together. Unfortunately, there was no love interest or attraction between them at that time and they became friends. July 2016 a group of 10 single friends decided to take a trip to Negril, Jamaica for some much needed fun in the sun and relaxation. The group stayed in a beautiful AIR-CONDITION-LESS house (yep! lol), that had its own beach inlet accompanied by a tennis court, croquet, kayak, water floats, a groundskeeper, and a house-aid. After learning to adapt to no AC, fans galore and mosquito netting LOL the group thoroughly enjoyed themselves! Two friends, Crystal (Scoobey) Ewell and Maurice (Moe) Simms decided to play matchmakers! While Scoobey worked on Nia, Moe worked on Kalvin. Whenever the group ate dinner they ensured there was always an open seat next to Nia or Kalvin for the other to sit next to. When they went into town, they ensured the same on the van and at the restaurants. As Nia and Kalvin began to spend time getting better acquainted with one another, they often found themselves chatting alone. As bashful feelings of excitement began to blossom, they realized they had similar interests and values. At the end of the trip Nia returned back to Philadelphia and Kalvin to Atlanta. Interested and curious Kalvin reached out to Nia and asked to continue to keep in touch. They found themselves talking daily into the wee hours of the night. They kept their romantic fling a secret, even as they started traveling to visit one another. Kalvin often joked that it was easier to date out-of-state than it was in-state because the traffic in Atlanta is so bad LOL! As a friend’s wedding approached Kalvin invited Nia to be his plus1. Anxious and nervous at the thought of going, Nia inquired…”Who all is going to be there?” “Everybody!,” KD said. “The TSU Crew, my brother and sister-in-law and my ATL crew!” Kalvin was ready to reveal his secret lol…”Nextdoor Nia” was his new beau! They officially announced their courtship at Anyee’ & Mike Payne’s wedding in October 2016 LOL! To the rest of the world they decided to remain discreet only allowing close friends and family to take part in their budding love story. Nia and KD dated long distance for 3 years, traveling to see one another every 2 weeks or twice a month. They were committed – never missed a special moment, birthday, family gathering or milestone. As their relationship grew they talked about taking things to the next level. Kalvin asked Nia to relocate to Atlanta, GA so they could continue to grow and start a future. In June 2019, Nia’s company relocated her right before the pandemic.

From Nia’s Perspective: It was December 19, 2022 – my actual birthday! Because I am a December baby, I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS! My house is always decorated… I live for all Christmas B movies lol and love spending time with family and friends! Two of my dear friends (Latona Smith & Joe Miller) came down from Philly to visit and celebrate my birthday! We started the day with brunch. Later Latona and I went to the spa to get massages and then joined Joe again for Happy Hour. KD was busy working but had planned dinner reservations for that evening. When I returned home I hurried to get dressed so we could leave to meet Latona and Joe at the restaurant. I decided to wear my red long sleeved one shoulder bow dress. It made me feel like a Christmas present! Of course when KD saw what I was wearing, he had to match my swag. Per usual, he was dressed before me and headed downstairs to make cocktails. Once I was ready I hurried downstairs rushing past one of my Christmas trees as he waited for me in the kitchen. “Before we leave,” he said he wanted to show me some ornaments he made for us on the tree. Weird, I thought since the tree has been decorated for almost a month. But I loved the idea that he made something memorable for us. When he showed me the first ornament it said Happy Holidays on one side with a picture of us on the other. Then he showed me the next one that said Merry Christmas on one side with another picture on the other. I loved them – they were so thoughtful and creative! He then showed me the last ornament that had a picture of us on one side and on the other side it said, WILL YOU MARRY ME? with a ring inside! I was speechless, shocked and so excited! He took the ornament off the tree, popped the top, took the ring out and got down on one knee to propose. I happily said YES! Still in shock I asked, when did you put those ornaments on that tree LOL! KD’s Perspective: Nia’s Philly crew was in town (Joe and Tona) to celebrate her birthday. The night before we all went out to turn up! The next day I told Tona to keep her busy and gone all day! The only thing she said she wanted was a massage for her birthday. I made an appointment for the two of them and told Joe to make sure they hit up a Happy Hour, too, before coming back. While they were out, I started working on my ornaments. If you know Nia you know she doesn’t miss much and notices everything, so I had to wait until she was completely out of the house to get started. When she came back to get dressed I got dressed before her and went downstairs to make my usual “cocktail while I wait”. During this time, I decided which tree I wanted to put the ornaments on, took a few pics and figured out where to position my phone to record it. As I heard her coming down the steps RUSHING to make our reservation, I asked her “Are You Good?” She was all flushed and concerned about the coat she was going to wear. Once that was established, I knew my window of time was short so as we are heading to the door, I stopped her and said I wanted to show her some ornaments I made. With Christmas being her favorite time of year I knew she would get a kick out of what I created. She walked closer to me as I showed her what I had made. The first one was of us from the holidays the year before, the next ornament held a picture from an event we attended a few weeks prior, and the last ornament was of us on my birthday in Puerto Rico with the words WILL YOU MARRY ME? As I leaned to grab the ornament she was astounded as I reached for the ring inside. I took a knee to ask the love of my life if she would Marry Me.