We had been attending the same church for over 2 years and we were always cordial with each other, even sharing a laugh and hug. Me calling him Huff and him calling me Doc. I realized there were feelings there when I found myself looking for him at church. In early 2024, one Sunday I noticed he wasn’t at Sunday service. Pastor asked the congregation to keep Deacon Huff in prayer because he wasn’t feeling well. Later that afternoon I reached out to him via Messenger to check on him and to say I was praying for him. Little did I know that this brief interaction was the beginning to our forever and always. We continued texting via Messenger for several days. As an educator, my Spring Break was coming soon and he asked me what my plans were. I told him I planned to go to my favorite restaurant, Pappadeaux. He asked if it would be ok, and if I felt comfortable, could he take me there. Sidenote, I was at work cleaning off cafeteria tables, but I was so excited!!! Did he just ask me on a date? I agreed immediately. And then I told him I would share my location with my sister in case he was crazy. This also began our shared love of cracking jokes with one another. From this conversation we ended up sharing our phone numbers, and we decided that we wanted to see each other before our Pappadeaux excursion so we ended up going to a mid-week movie. What did we go see? One Love in March, 2024. And what do we have now? One Love. Gary and Trila. One love-forever and always.

On one of our typical turned hysterical Saturday outings early in our relationship, we were talking about what we wanted in our futures. The subject of marriage came up. I told him I knew I wanted to married again. He told me he didn’t think he wanted to get married again. We both had very valid reasons for our stances on marriage, as we both were healing from our own previous 20+ year marriages. I knew I was falling for Gary so hearing this was extremely difficult. But what I appreciated the most was ability to be completely open and honest, regardless of how difficult it may have been. I cried, talked to a trusted friend, and prayed about it. God told me to be still and stay prayed up. Gary was and is worth the wait. I’m so glad I listened to God’s voice.

As private people, we always want to protect the peace in our relationship. We were intentional about not living out our relationship on social media. Our relationship has never been a secret because we are open with our love for one another and those closest to us knew early on we were together. But some things are best left to those in the relationship. I’m so thankful that we have found a love that has brought such peace, joy, comfort and laughter to each of our lives. So, we share what we want to share on social media-and the rest is just for us.

He calls me “passenger princess” because he knows I prefer not to drive LOL! August started with him picking me up at around 6:00 am so I could run my first 5K. We had already planned to go to my favorite restaurant later on in the day as another birthday gift for me. So we got to the race and he prayed for me and hyped me up not just before the race but he was on the sidelines encouraging me during the race. He was the first voice I heard as I approached the finish line where I broke down while he told me how proud of le he was. Talk about being such an amazing encourager!! He is so amazing. I got cleaned up and we headed to Pappadeaux for what I thought was just another great date with my boo. Little did I know that he had the help of 2 waiters to propose to me by first pretending we were taking a picture together and then he started singing Can you stand the rain to me!!! I did the whole ugly cry as the other waiter brought out a slice of cheesecake with my ring. It was so thoughtful, heartfelt and so personal. He’s a keeper for sure!