If 2020 could be described in one word, it would undoubtedly be, tumultuous. Though it was a year filled with heavy losses, unwavering chaos and who could forget, a global pandemic…it was also the year that Michael and I found one another. Encouraged by one of my best friends, I decided to give online dating a try. With less than a week left in my subscription, I came across a message from an extremely handsome admirer who was a self-described nerd. After reading his profile, I was immediately interested. We shared a love for many of the same things, but most of all we were both single parents looking for love. I messaged him back, and the initial conversation was AMAZING. Knowing that my subscription was coming to an end, I took a risk and gave him my phone number and we continued our conversation via text message the following day. During our very first “video date”, we discovered that we went to the same High School and graduated 1 year apart from one another. We also learned that our jobs were directly next door to one another, and he would come and order lunch from me from time to time. Our paths had crossed in so many ways without us being aware of it, and it finally just felt like we were where we were supposed to be. We took things slow and had a few more video dates before finally meeting each other in person. The first time we met, we went on a lunch date. Our conversation, interactions, expectations and chemistry were paralleled and in those moments, we both knew that we had met our perfect match.

On Mother’s Day I had planned on popping the big question to the love of my life. It was a very stressful day trying to figure out how to make this plan come to fruition. Would I do it on a nature walk? How about placing it in a glass of champagne? Maybe I should wrap it up and place it on her pillow? After much thought I decided to ask my son-to-be, Caleb, for help. I sat him down and explained to him what my intentions were about proposing to his mom. I asked him for his blessing to not only marry her, but for me to be his father, and for him to be a big brother for Mason. He gave me the biggest hug and said he wanted this for a very long time. With his help we decided it would be best to set up the proposal when Leah would be getting ready for bed. We dug through some boxes and found a few boxes of tea lights. We then created a trail of lights leading from our bedroom door, down to the basement. Caleb and I then selected a perfect love song that we knew would bring a tear to Leah’s eyes. We then turned off all the other lights in the house and ran to the basement to hide. We started to play the song through speakers to wake her up and started listening for her footsteps from the top floor. We could hear her calling out to us while following the lights until she made her way to the very last step in the basement. In complete silence she stared at the small table encircled with lights and in the center was the engagement ring. The song ended and the lights came on and there I was, on one knee, with my heart open and my hand holding hers. I expressed my love, dreams, and hopes for our future. At that moment, I asked her the most important question of my life. “Lemuela Leah Bryant, will you marry me?”

Please join us to celebrate our love as we begin our new life together ❤️