How We Met
Bayleigh and I first met at a college bar at Georgia Southern University. She was a freshman and I was a junior when we ran into one another, but we immediately hit it off through our mutual obsession with the Dave Matthews Band among other things. She sat on the porch with me as we talked the night away. I called her the next day to see when we could see one another again, but instead of making a date, I ended up explaining to her who I was because at the time of our conversation she had a little too much to drink. Regardless, I was able to get her out on a couple of fraternity date night events. About a month later on a cold November night on River Street in Savannah with Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” playing in the background, (we had asked a street performer to play a Dave Matthews song and he said he knew them all) I realized that she was someone I could spend the rest of my life with.
Bayleigh was shy at first, but she was also the warmest and kindest girl I had ever met. Through crazy fraternity formals, stressful classes, and even long distance after I had graduated, she stuck with me until we were able to both get jobs and live together in Atlanta. It has been a crazy journey trying to figure our place in this life but there is no on else I would rather spend the rest of it with.
how they asked
The week of the proposal, Bayleigh’s mom flew into Atlanta because Bayleigh had won practice round tickets to the Master’s at Augusta National. After getting back from Augusta, that Saturday I took Bayleigh, her mom, and her sister to lunch at The Mill Kitchen & Bar which was right across the street from Barrington Hall in Historic Roswell. Once we finished eating, we walked over to the old Victorian home where I had arranged for Bayleigh’s best friend Marcie to be the hidden photographer. She had even manifested a makeshift disguise so Bayleigh wouldn’t recognize her. As we walked down the path to the front of the house, Bayleigh’s mom and sister had stopped to “look” at the blooming azalea’s and instead of coming with me to the proposal spot, she decided to also look at the pretty flowers.
After a little convincing, I finally got her arm and much to her confusion, led her to the spot. I told her that it had been a long time coming and that I was so thankful for her patience in waiting for me. I got down on one knee and as they say the rest is history. She was completely surprised and confessed later that she had thought I was going to propose at the Masters and when I didn’t, she had accepted that I was going to do it some time down the road. It was an unforgettable and amazing afternoon, but what made it all worth while was seeing her smile after I told her that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
