How We Met
Dom and I met in 2014 when we were 16 and 17. My cousin knew him through mutual friends and brought him to church one weekend. When I saw him sitting next to my cousin during the church service, I literally thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest! It was absolutely love at first sight. I was too scared to introduce myself to him that day: I came up to introduce myself to his mom, and as I turned to Dom I got so completely nervous and just said “okay, bye!” and basically ran away! He still says to this day that after that, he really thought he had no shot with me! We didn’t actually meet until a few weeks later at my high school graduation. I gave a speech during graduation, and he messaged me on Twitter that night telling me how good I was. (Insert all the millennial jokes here!)
We fell in love and began dating that summer — he was my first boyfriend ever! We actually ended up breaking up the following summer after we began our freshman year of college, but it was short lived — we got back together about 9 months later! We both were miserable with the other people we had started dating and thought of each other every single day. We’ve known from the beginning of our relationship that we were meant to be together, but dating other people while we were broken up really confirmed for us that we were soulmates and no one else could ever compare to each other!
How They Asked
I just want to start by saying that I am hardly EVER surprised, especially when it comes to Dom! He is so transparent with me, it’s hard for him to keep secrets! I also have a special gift of always ruining my own surprises by finding them out somehow! So I thought I would know and totally expect when Dom would propose to me! I am so glad to say that was NOT the case!
My mom’s birthday is in October, so I planned a surprise family photoshoot for her. Our dad passed away in 2010, and we have not had professional family pictures taken with my mom and all 9 kids since then. Dom came with us to take the pictures, which was not out of the ordinary because he is such an important part of my family; all of my siblings call him their brother! It was a completely normal day to me, I had NO idea he had even bought the ring! He threw me off completely by telling me we’d be going ring shopping that following Monday. My mom and siblings did an awesome job of hiding their excitement!
We brought our pug puppy, Poppy, with us so we could take our own “family” pictures. Dom had told me that he always planned to propose to me with a pug puppy, but last summer I was so impatient and begged him until he caved, and we got Poppy as a gift for each other for our 4th anniversary! She is our little baby, we do everything and take her wherever we go, as often as we can!
When it came time for Dom, Poppy and I to take our pictures, Dom asked me to read Poppy’s name tag on her collar. It read, “Mommy, will you marry Daddy?”
I was in COMPLETE disbelief and kept saying “Really?!” I cried and cried because, after 4 years, my dream was finally coming true! Also, the fact that Poppy was the messenger for the big question made it all the more special. She is my entire world, and to have the pictures of her being such a big part of our special day is so great to me.
It was so special to me that my whole family was there when he proposed… We have been through so much together since the death of my dad, so for all of us to be together on one of the happiest days ever meant so much. It felt like everything came full circle. We had experienced so much hurt together, now we get to experience so much joy together!
Like I said earlier, Dom really is a part of my family, so the joy my mom and siblings felt was palpable to us. Most of my brothers had tears in their eyes, and while Dom was on one knee you could hear them all laughing and shouting out little phrases of excitement! It was truly better than I could’ve ever dreamed of!
