I was living in the Netherlands at the time when I was preparing to take a week-long trip back to Tampa to be part of one of my best friend’s, Ben, wedding. I was looking forward to this trip for a while not only because I was a groomsman in his wedding, but I was also going to see some of my friends and family who I hadn’t seen in a while since moving overseas. After testing negative multiple times for covid and getting permission from my graduate program to take the trip, I was finally on my way home. My friend Ben mentioned to me beforehand that he felt one of the bridesmaids at the wedding would be a perfect match for me and that I should take a shot at it, but I honestly didn’t think too much of it… until I saw Rebekah for the first time. My initial thought was that there’s no way someone who looks as beautiful as she does would ever go for an awkward Star Wars nerd like me, but I decided to go for it anyway. At the rehearsal dinner, I noticed an empty seat next to Rebekah and I went over to ask her if the seat was taken. She responded very bluntly and quickly by saying “yeah, I’m saving it for my friend.” Shot down. From that point and leading into the next day at the wedding, I was too nervous to talk to Rebekah and I let it go. The next day my sister, Alex, asked me how it went and I told her I chickened out and I was so annoyed myself. I went back to the Netherlands a couple days later, still annoyed at myself and sitting with a real feeling that I let something go. Not much I could do, though, considering I lived 5,000 miles away. Fast forward a couple of months, and I was on a plane coming back to the U.S., but for good this time as I was moving back to help coach the soccer program at SEU. I remember the annoying thought of not initiating a conversation with Rebekah still weighing heavily in the back of my mind. She posted a funny video of her cat, Meowidith Grey, on Instagram and I replied to it, which sparked a conversation and led to us texting back and forth for a couple weeks. My roommate, Logan, urged me to just go for it and ask her to dinner, so I did, and that was followed by me tossing my phone across the apartment because I was so nervous of what her response might be. But, a few days later we met up for dinner in Bradenton, and immediately I knew that this was the girl that I would spend the rest of my life with.

I had recently moved into a new house with my mom and was having a house-warming party with family and friends. Well, that’s what Rebekah thought at least. Rebekah was under the impression that my mom was cooking dinner for my family and hers as well to welcome in the new house. What she didn’t know is that I had been planning the proposal for a couple of months with all our friends and family in attendance. I told Rebekah to come over around 7pm because I was having practice with the high school team that I was coaching, so I would be home a little later than normal… which was true, but I also needed a little bit of time to get ready before she and her family arrived. Her dad and mom of course knew exactly what was going on and they had planned to leave at the perfect time so that everything was set in place. My sister, Alex, and sister-in-law, Julissa, decorated the back room of the new house with lights, roses, candles, and pictures to make it the perfect setting for the surprise. Right before she got to the house, I asked everyone to hide in the other rooms in the house until after the proposal happened, as I knew Rebekah wouldn’t want a couple dozen people watching as it all went down. One of my favorite parts of the night was having Rebekah’s best friend, Jess, answer the door when she knocked, since she flew in from Mississippi for the big day, and the look on her face was priceless when she saw her. She immediately knew what was happening as soon as Jess answered the door. My family was lined up in the kitchen where they each gave Rebekah a red rose before she walked into the back room where I was standing, and the proposal was happening. I was super calm all day and not nervous at all until I heard Rebekah knock on the door. At that moment, all the nervousness flooded in. Rebekah finally made it to the back room, and I was standing there surrounded by flowers and candles, and she looked as beautiful as ever. I told her that I loved her, and that she meant the absolute world to me before going down on one knee to ask her to make me the luckiest guy in the whole world. A few minutes later, my sister opened the curtains of the room where all our friends and family were standing and cheering, and it capped off the best night of my life.