We’re getting married!

Rashawd and I met at his fraternity back to school bbq my freshman year in 2013. (S/o HY!) I was there with a couple friends. Shawd came around and introduced himself to us and told us if we ever needed anything to let him know. I didn’t see him again for maybe another couple of weeks and that’s when I found out he worked in the basement of the library (the ATLC). We chopped it up and before you knew it we were close friends. He’d watch out for me and my friends and always made sure we were straight. That was just Shawd. He was always someone you could talk to and laugh with. His spirit was big and generous. Two things I still love about him today. Sophomore year is when the magic happened…best friends first, soulmates forever.

We met at the annual ICEBREAKER BBQ hosted by my Alpha brothers at Texas Tech. I was always adamant that our peers had a great experience at our events so I was always the guy moving around making sure people had food and were having a great time. Nikki and her friends had great energy so it was easy for me to gravitate to them. We all kept in touch from that point on, but Nikki and I had a special connection. We loved all the same things so we hung out on a regular basis and she quickly became one of my best friends. After being exposed to her infectious personality and caring spirit for a while, I was hooked.

What started as a regular planned anniversary ended up not being so regular at all. Shawd and I usually celebrate our anniversary by him planning one half of the day and me planning the other. 5/28/21 was different. He knew I was so busy at work and barely had any breaks so I told him we could go to breakfast and he stated he would plan the remainder of the day. Of course I thought nothing of it. We never made it to breakfast d/t me being so tired. I had a makeup appointment at one, which I only do on special occasions. He talked me into getting it done but I never argued with him about it so I guess that was the easy part. (S/o to Fefe and Ajiri, they were the only people i physically saw that day)The hard part was getting me to get my nails done lol. So we went to a pop up interactive art exhibit called POP! and took the most bomb pictures, #ShootahShawdIsMyFav . After leaving he wanted me to go get our nails done at 5 pm in Dallas rush hour traffic ladies, and we had dinner reservations at 7:00. I finally got him to lay off and we went to change and headed to the most amazing dinner. We went to The Monarch at The National in downtown. It was on the 49th floor. The views were endless. He told me order whatever I want. After dinner we were already going to do a photoshoot so he rushed the end of dinner saying we had to go. The photoshoot was going to be at the AT&T Discovery District which was in walking distance (I knew all of this already). I begged RaShawd to let me put on my sandals y’all, and he reassured me we were almost there and to wait. He was very adamant so I was just slightly suspicious. Nothing prepared me for this moment. The pavilion was PACKED. Random people started handing me roses, RaShawd disappeared, my 3 little nephews ran to me with roses and the tears fell and didn’t stop. There my family and friends were about to witness one of the greatest moments in my life. On our 6th year anniversary, I said YES to forever. I will never forget that day.

As you could imagine, I had been tense for months. Time was moving so slow because I knew this day was going to be one for the books. We had been together for five years prior to this and I had to make sure everything went perfect. Guess what though, it wasn't. Just like everyone was telling me.... But moms kept telling me to just control what I can control and trust in God's plan. And so I did. After a day filled with anniversary plans, we finally got a chance to enjoy us some dinner at the Monarch in Downtown Dallas. Towards the end of dinner my brother Marc started blowing me up. Telling me that security was tight about how many people were there so we had to come quick. I did my best to give a nice nudge, but I ended up having to rush her. Though the AT&T district is a walk away, y'all can believe this woman started screaming that her feet hurt in her heels. But my baby a soldier though. She knew we had pictures to take (wink wink) so she toughed it out. We met with our photographer AP. My boy should have won an Oscar for his performance because he was flawless in his execution. Holding conversations and even discretely letting me know all was good. S/O the homie! The place was packed with people so she couldn't have had any idea what was happening. All of a sudden a couple of random strangers came up and gave her some roses and she gracefully accepted. Then the nephews aka “Triple D” gave her some. Bro, she immediately starting crying! I sneak off to the lil ball thing out there and posted up until all of her friends and family gave her a rose. As she finishes her cry baby session she makes her way to the marquette letters. I whisper some good words in her ear and got down on that knee and she basically said yes before I could ask. The love shown out there was amazing! The help from our friends and family really came in clutch for us. Y'all really made this day a one for the books.