We met 20 years ago in high school, but there was no cinematic "meet cute" that either of us can recall. I had just moved to Plano from Ennis and was in dire need of friends. With my thick country accent, I didn't quite fit in anywhere. After coming out of my shell a bit, I made some friends and would be invited to a few of the same gatherings as Justin. I always thought this guy was kind of cute, but we would only say the occasional "Hi" to each other. After college, we both found ourselves back in Dallas to start our adult lives. Of all the places in Dallas, Barcadia was the first place we ran into each other. Again, only pleasantries were exchanged. A few more years go by, and one night I randomly get a Facebook message from him: " I feel like you are about every 4th post on my news feed lately. I forget that you are still in Dallas. I live downtown. We should catch up sometime. I'm meeting up with some folks in Deep Ellum tonight. Hit me up if you're around." "Hit me up?" Who says that? And "we should catch up?" Catch up on what? We never really hung out. Needless to say, I did say no to that line. But I did give him my number. Apparently, he's not a quitter. The very next day, he asked if I wanted to grab a drink at the Grapevine. I caved and said yes. After grabbing drinks, we made plans for the next weekend for an actual date and the rest is history.

We met in high school.

I knew I would propose, but heavy lies the burden for the man to figure out the perfect scenario. That's a lot of pressure. As if there wasn't enough pressure, Im entirely responsible for this ring (insurance hadn't kicked in yet). What if I lose this tiny thing? My mission was to keep it close and keep her away (prison wallet wasn't an option). It seemed she was wise to the plan when I caught her fishing through my backpack looking for a Cliff Bar and I hollered in sheer panic to "GET OUTTA THERE". She was like Golem. She could sense the ring's presence. The proposal occurred on Sao Miguel Island. We went on a hike searching for the best view of Sete Cidades. SC is a small town set at the base of a dormant volcano that has formed a caldera and two crater lakes (one blue and one green). According to legend, the differently colored lakes were created when a princess and her lover, a young shepherd, had to part from each other. The tears they shed at their farewell became the two lakes, with the water colored like their eyes. Hopefully, our story is more of the "happily ever after" variety. After all, I did navigate through the proposal using one of the all time great "happily ever after movies", Princess Bride, as my guide. "I have loved you for several hours now, and every second, more. I thought an hour ago that I loved you more than any woman has ever loved a man, but a half hour after that I knew that what I felt before was nothing compared to what I felt then. But ten minutes after that, I understood that my previous love was a puddle compared to the high seas before a storm." I had to take some liberties with this one as obviously I am not a princess. That said, it was the best metaphor I could think of for how I could possibly wake up every day and consistently love Jenna even more than the day prior. She constantly surprises me. Her unbridled joy for life and her ability to always see the best in others inspires me to be a better person.