How We Met
I say high school sweethearts because it’s easiest, but in reality, it all started before high school. In my 8th-grade year, there was this cute boy that was on the bus but I never talked to because he was older than me, he was friends with my brother. That summer before high school started, this same boy would come knocking on my front door to ask my brother to play football and I always answered (still thinking he was the cutest). One night that summer, I went to a bonfire that he was at. From that night on, we talked every single day. Not long after we started dating, his family picked up and moved to New Jersey.
For a little over two years, we committed to a long-distance relationship. It wasn’t that we intended to do so, we were so young, but we just couldn’t stand to not be in each other’s life. It was 2 years of him flying back to Ohio and me trying to visit him in New Jersey. His senior year, he decided he was going to move back to Ohio by himself and we still continued to date. Time goes on and we both hit huge milestones in life together. Graduating high school, starting college, joining the military, moving in together, and getting two doggos. We started dating when I was 14, over the next 9.5 years, it was guaranteed that we would both grow into who we were meant to be and that our personalities would change in that length of time. We decided to grow with each other instead of apart because we both knew it was worth all of the struggles.
How They Asked
Here we are, close to those 9.5 years of dating and busier than ever with life. With our careers starting and school coming to an end, I didn’t think an engagement would be happening anytime soon even though I dreamed about it all of the time. I decided to plan a weekend getaway to Traverse City because we both deserved a little getaway and a break from the craziness. The first day we got to Traverse city, we decided to drive and see all of the wineries (we love going for drives). The sun was setting and he made the decision to drive all of the ways to the end of the peninsula to stop at a lighthouse. We get out of the car and walk to the lighthouse where we stood for a few minutes to soak in the beautiful view. It was cold so I turned my back to walk back to the car and then feel a tap on my back. As I turned around, I realized Kaleb was on his knee with a ring in hand. My immediate reaction was to just cry, for about a minute straight actually. Once I finally got it together, I looked at him and he said: “Will you marry me?”. Of course, my answer was YES even though in my head I was thinking “finally”.
Thinking of my 14-year-old self who was in puppy love to now fills me with so many emotions. I’ve literally imagined this phase of my life since being a young teenager and it feels surreal to actually be here. I get to marry the man I have loved since 14 and the person my heart calls home. We are so truly blessed to have each other.
