How We Met
Our story begins at Stockton University in southern New Jersey where we actually had never officially met, just two strangers passing each other by, brushing shoulders in the sea of busy college students hustling and bustling through the hallways to and from classes. Interestingly enough, if we hadn’t laid eyes on each other at school, then certainly we must have glanced at each other while we were walking to our apartment doors, as we lived in the same apartment complex! No? Well, fate has a funny way of bringing two people together. Fast forward almost 5 years, respectively, and find two young people searching for love on an up and coming dating site; “Plenty of Fish”. I recall seeing Elizabeth’s picture and immediately being smitten with her smile. I thought “Send her a quirky message, something that’s relevant to some of the information in her profile, what’s the worst that could happen?…That smile though….” To my complete surprise and excitement, I received a reply no more than 5 minutes later. From there it was unlimited chit-chat and laughs along with some banter about Stockton and how awful their buffalo chicken pizza was!
A week or two had passed and I am admittedly a bit more shy when it comes to asking a woman out on an official date. Luckily for me, Elizabeth is a bit more bold when it comes to speaking her mind about what she wants. She flat out asked me “When are you going to ask me out!?!” I jumped right on the opportunity, and we made a date to meet at Miller’s Sports Bar for casual drinks and appetizers, to finally meet in person. I remember the night clearly almost as if it were yesterday, it was a very mild and beautiful night in late September. We sat at a high top and ordered our two favorite appetizers; buffalo shrimp and loaded nachos as well as a couple margaritas. The night seemed to just fly by, and we just could not keep our eyes off each other. I recall being a bit giddy and nervous, like a schoolboy on his first lunch date with a crush (well that’s essentially what it was, except for the schoolboy part). But Elizabeth (Lizzie) had a way of just making me feel comfortable around her and that I could share any thoughts, free from judgement. Inevitably it got late and it was time to say our good nights, I told her I had a really great time and thought to myself “I feel a strong connection to this woman”. I timidly asked her if I could give her a goodnight kiss and felt an overwhelming joy when she smiled and replied that she would very much like that.
It’s true they say that one could feel fireworks when they meet the right one, I had never felt anything like that for someone until the night I met Elizabeth. I asked her if I could see her again, but due to work schedules we had to settle for mid-day lunch dates before we had to be in for scheduled work shifts. Our second date, which was actually at the Philadelphia Zoo, is when I felt for sure that we could soon be a couple. Which brings us to present day, where I am happily engaged to the woman of my dreams.
how they asked
Jamieson told me that, for our 11 month anniversary, he wanted to recreate our first “real” date – when he took me to the Philadelphia Zoo. First, though, he was taking me to the Reading Terminal Market for lunch. We went Beck’s, the creole booth, and ordered the same food we did that first time – muffaletta sandwich and an alligator po’ boy. Yum! We spent the rest of the day at the zoo, holding hands and taking our time watching the animals. We meandered our way past the eagles, the reptiles, the monkeys. I noticed him herding me towards the Okapi exhibit, but I didn’t think anything of it, because that is my favorite animal.
When we got closer to the exhibit, I couldn’t help but run over and squeal like a little girl! I was so excited! I felt Jamie grab my hand and try to pull me away, and I said, “Wait, I’m not done! Where are we going?” He got this nervous, dreamy look in his eye, and I felt myself tear up. Was he proposing? He started to tell me how much he loved me and wanted to spend his life with me, and I started to cry. As soon as he knelt down on one knee, I was giggling and sobbing and laughing all at once. He pulled out this black, leather ring box and when he opened it, I couldn’t help but go wide-eyed. The ring was beautiful, and everything I had ever described and more. I remember nodding my head and squeaking out something that sounded like a “yes”, then trying to pull him up to kiss me.
It was then that I noticed two men photographing us. My loving and thoughtful fiance had taken a comment I made once, “I would love to have a picture of you proposing to me” and made it a fairy tale. The two gentlemen from RingShot Photography spent an hour with us, taking pictures of us together around the zoo. It was perfect, a literal dream come true. The proposal was a complete surprise, and I could not be any happier! WE’RE ENGAGED!!!!