How We Met
It all started on New Year’s Eve of 2012. I was on a not-so-serious date with a guy and we met up with a bunch of his CrossFit friends at a bar for dinner. The moment I was introduced to Dillon there was this electric chemistry (the kind you read about in fairytales). Suddenly it was like my date didn’t exist and I sat right beside Dillon to talk to him. We shared so much in common (including an obsession with the show True Blood) and our plans for our futures of desire to travel the world. Also that he would soon be leaving for SERE school in the Navy soon and the idea of this hurt me. I should probably mention at this point that my gaydar was BLARING and I was convinced that Dillon was gay. No matter, I still announced to the whole group that I was marrying him whether he liked it or not. And for the rest of the night, I referred to him as my “dearest husband”. He even called me his “darling wife”!
A few days later I stalked him on Facebook and found his profile (and his cellphone number which he had public at the time). We began talking and became even closer! It wasn’t until a couple of months in that he began flirting with me one night and I was very confused. I said “Are you flirting with me right now? But…aren’t you gay?” To this day it’s still something we joke about. We went out a few times and then he mentioned how he was leaving for Washington state soon where he’d be stationed for the next 4 years. I got very sad at this point and he said he’d be glad to fly me out to visit him. Stupidly, I saw this as him inviting me out as a casual thing. So I mentioned to him that I wanted something MORE (I was hinting that I wanted a relationship with him). He thought that I was saying “I want more…just not with you.” So we remained best friends for the next 4 years but never moved forward with anything.
Skip to spring of 2018 and we started flirting again. He was currently deployed in Japan but I couldn’t hold my feelings in anymore. We talked every day, multiple times a day. We would video chat for hours at night. Then once he got back from deployment he spent the entire month of November on leave with me. We spent time with each other’s families and even had a professional photoshoot done together. My friends and I were convinced he was going to propose at some point while he was visiting and when he didn’t I was so sad. Then as November ended he had to leave for his next station (in Hawaii) and I had to say goodbye again. Even though we had decided I would move out there with him in May and would eventually marry, it didn’t change the fact that the distance right now hurt.
How They Asked
He flew me out to Hawaii for 2 weeks in Mid-February for a small vacation and I was going to take the opportunity to apply for 911 dispatch (my occupation) jobs while I was out there. He picked me up from the airport in his dress whites and I wore a little dress to match! On our drive from the airport, he was showing me all the beautiful sights on the way to our house. Then gave me a tour of our new home. We were both so unbelievably happy just to be together again. He asked me what I thought about this moment. I said, “It’s perfect!” That’s when he excused himself to the other room because he had something for me. I thought he meant more chocolates or flowers that he knew I loved.
But then when he came back he started telling me how much he loved me. And knew I was his soulmate. We talk mushy like this all the time so I didn’t think anything new of it until he said: “So I have a question for you.” Suddenly the world stopped and I knew. My eyes got big and all I could say was “Wait…what?” He pulled out the ring box and asked: “Will you marry me, Amanda?” And I burst into the most ugly-cry you can imagine. I couldn’t even see clearly to look down at the ring! I practically screamed yes at him and he put that beauty on my finger. Once I stopped crying I could see that he picked a perfect ring. I love classic solitaires and he did an amazing job picking one! He then went on to tell me he’d planned to propose that Friday at dinner but he just couldn’t wait. I shouldn’t be surprised tho, we suck at keeping surprises a secret from each other.
