To love, laughter and happily ever after

We met at UA Little Rock when we were both freshmen. We lived in the same dorm, we were in the same scholarship program and we became fast friends. Gage spent most of his summers driving from Pine Bluff to Little Rock to see me. We became best friends soon after. It wasn't until Gage joined The Forum, UA Little Rock's student paper as a photographer, that we started hanging out so much on our own. (He would later confess that he was only joining to spend more time with me.) As senior year was nearing an end, we had already planned to live together in the Metro area. But, we realized we didn't ever want to live without each other. Everybody said they could tell we were in love with each other, but nobody could believe it when we told them we'd began dating right before our college graduation.

When we first talked about getting married, Remy asked me to give her a time frame. As such, on her birthday trip in February of 2023, I told her that the time frame was 6 to 12 months. This all led up to the proposal on October 18th, 2023. Since then, I was nervous and had so many ideas. Apple picking with the ring put in a specific apple. Renting a movie theater to have them show “Little Women,” our first technical date but not date. And then me and Remy talked about a vacation together in Branson, Missouri, our first trip as a couple back in June. I knew this was the perfect time and had the perfect place in mind: Top of the Rock. With a lot of help from Bella and family, a ring that looked nearly as beautiful as Remy herself was found. A photographer was booked and a plan was set. However, when the moment came, staring at the waterfall with the photographer expertly indistinguishable behind us, I realized I never thought about how I would get Remy to look away from me for an extended amount of time. Desperate, I asked if she wanted to take some “pictures of the rocks.” Thankfully she played around long enough for me to drop onto one knee, fumble terribly with getting the box out, and opening it to show the ring just as she turned around. I first told her I was sorry for lying about not proposing on this trip. Next, I told her how much I loved and cherished her. How much I wanted us to spend the rest of our lives together. I said all of this in a single breath, it felt like. And after a brief silence, realized I didn’t actually ask the question, “Will you marry me?” After I finally managed to get the question out, her “Yes” is what restarted my heart.