His Side: My earliest memories of Hannah are all goofy. I remember us making ridiculous faces at each other that I'm sure would make my mom say "your face will freeze like that." We'd trade lunch items, hang out in the band room, and I'd sabotage her mechanical pencils by removing the lead, springs, or erasers. Her Side: My first memory of Parker is from 7th grade. He took Latin and I took Spanish during the same period. Our teachers had each class sing a holiday song before winter break. All I remember was seeing Parker giggle the entire time he was on stage.
His side: I had been stressing about what I was going to do for this proposal for months, but once I had the ring in hand I knew I wanted it to be soon. The tricky part was trying to surprise her with the proposal, since she was expecting something to happen in the not too distant future. The Taylor Swift concert was a great opportunity for two reasons. First, it was the town we grew up in and shared so many memories together. Second, the concert meant that I didn't have to suspiciously plan a sudden trip somewhere that would obviously be for a proposal. So, a few days before the trip I made a commitment to myself that I would take this opportunity. In the trip itinerary, she was planning to be at the Bicentennial Mall for her mother's dance performance. As a young couple we would go to Nashville's parks, including Bicentennial Mall, and hang out, so I liked the connection we had to that area. On the day of, I had almost no idea what I was going to do, but I was determined to make it happen. I went to a barber shop for a haircut, got the help of my mom to drive me to Best Buy for a tripod to hold my phone, and then she dropped me off at the Mall. I walked around frantically looking for the best spot, settling on a circular pathway surrounded by columns overlooked by the capitol building. I spent half an hour making sure the camera was set up perfectly, and then I hid myself behind a column. My spy on the inside, Hannah's sister Jenny, let me know when they were coming my way. The wait felt like an eternity, but eventually she had made her way into my trap. I made my grand surprise entrance, which she had her back turned to. So I snuck up behind her, cleared my throat loudly, and said "Hello!" I told her to take off a random hat she'd bought, positioned us in the middle of the camera shot, and said a short semi-rehearsed, semi-improvised speech, and of course the magic words. To my great relief, she said yes. Her side: We were in town, so I could go to the Taylor Swift concert with my sister, Jenny, on a Friday. I was really hoping he would have the ring by this weekend, but he was acting normal. Parker and I parted ways for the weekend, so we could independently spend time with our families. My mom had a dance performance at the Bicentennial Mall Farmer’s Market on Saturday, so my family and I went to support her. After the performance, I walked around the Farmer’s Market and saw a “Nashville” hat. I took a photo and asked Parker which color he preferred. He wasn’t responding, Jenny was rushing me, so I called him. It was noisy in the background, like someone was using a weedwhacker. He said he was helping his mom with some yard work. I bought it – his story and the hat and was on my way. I watched and followed Jenny’s kids down Bicentennial Mall, while talking to my mom. We made it to the end, and I saw a tripod. I didn’t think anything of it until I was literally behind it and Parker appeared out of nowhere. He told me to take off the hat, and that’s when I knew it was happening.