Marcus and I met at a Shriner's Christmas party. We have different interpretations on how we actually started talking that night. Marcus "cleverly" made himself present every time I went to the bar for a drink. I noticed what he was doing and jokingly asked if he was stalking me. That conversation led us to talking the rest of the night while getting a dance or two in on the dance floor. We exchanged numbers that night and talked for several months before we saw each other again.

After talking on the phone for a few months our schedules finally allowed us to have our first date. He called informing me that he was driving to Columbia and wanted to see me. Since we had not seen each other in months I jokingly asked if he was trying to "catfish" me. I guess in all of the talking we did he picked up on my personality so our first date was perfect. We met at Dave and Busters and had fun like we were teenagers. First dates are usually weird and awkward but we clicked like we've known each other for years. A few days later we shared our "first Valentines" together when he hand delivered beautiful roses to my job.

Dating came natural to us because we have so much in common and genuinely enjoy each other but agreed in the beginning that we didn't want to date for fun. We were both in search for our forever while enjoying being single so when we met we just knew at some point we'd get married. We had a few family members to die and I would always jokingly tell him that I didn't want to be his "special friend" on his obituary. This became a running joke between us. One day while folding up his clothes I "stumbled" upon a box and yes my nosey butt opened it up to find an engagement ring inside so I knew he was going to be asking me soon. Many months went by and Marcus still had not asked. I found out later that almost everyone in my family knew but me. We went dancing one night and I felt the box in his coat pocket so I got overly excited that night.... NOTHING! He woke up the next morning tearing up the house looking for something. Yes, somehow Marcus lost my ring!! After days of searching he was determined to purchase me another one. He informed me that he found another one (he can't keep a secret to save his life.) One Saturday morning while he was at work he called asking me if I knew where the new ring was. In my mind I'm thinking this fool has lost another ring. Little did I know he had cleverly hidden the ring in the house and left me clues to find it. Once I realized what was happening I got excited and the search was on because I was being timed and it had to be found before he made it home from work. I found the ring and met him at the door screaming and hollering in excitement waiting for him to ask. In true Marcus fashion this fool grabs the ring from me and tells me he wasn't ready to ask me yet. He ended up asking few minutes later after making me suffer lol.