Kris and I met for the first time a little over three years ago. I noticed him in the cafeteria at our high school one day and immediately told my friends I was in love (only jokingly, of course!). From then on, I made it a habit to walk past his lunch table every day, hoping he’d notice me or catch on that I wanted to talk to him. I would try and think up ways to introduce myself to him all the time, but I was always way too nervous. I didn’t even know his name!
Finally, after at least a month or two of scheming, my friend Emily and I decided enough was enough! I decided to scribble my phone number on a scrap of paper and asked Emily if she could give it to him. She agreed. That afternoon after lunch as he walked right past our lockers she tapped his shoulder and said, “This is my friend, Elizabeth, and you should definitely talk to her sometime.”. I was about as pink as a flamingo and so was Kris. He just smiled at me and took the slip of paper. I thought he was just being polite and in no way did I actually suspect he would want to talk to me.
To my surprise, he texted me that afternoon right after school and I still remember exactly how I felt in that moment. I was so pleasantly surprised and happier than I’d ever felt before. From then on, we talked all the time, ate lunch together every day, and spent every single weekend together. Exploring parks became one of our favorite things to do together. Our favorite park to visit was Fort de Soto, a county park in St. Petersburg, Florida, home to an old fort and lots of trails. Not only was this where we had our first kiss, it was where I confessed that I loved him for the very first time and where he gave me my promise ring, promising that we’d someday share a life together.
On February 27th, 2016, three years later, Kris suggested we go to Fort de Soto and explore. This didn’t seem too unusual since it is one of our favorite places and we go there fairly often. Now that I look back, Kris was talking a lot on our way up there. He kept saying how excited he was and how we have so many amazing memories there. When we arrived at the park, I told him I wanted to go look for shells, but he kept driving past the beach, towards one of the picnic areas where there are a bunch of trails that we like to walk on. He said he wanted to go on a walk first. I thought this was a little suspicious, but didn’t argue.
We began our walk. It was a chilly day (well, for Florida) and I only had on a thin hoodie without pockets for your hands. I didn’t complain because I knew he was determined for us to go on this walk. We talked and we reminisced about all of the amazing memories we’ve had here. I was still not catching on to what was happening, but I was freezing! I decided to slip my hand into Kris’s jacket pocket and my fingers touched something… something that felt like a jewelry box. More specifically, a ring box.
I quickly took my hand out, but it was too late. Kris just started laughing and then so did I. He said that he couldn’t hide it anymore and my heart was beating so fast. I can’t even remember all the things he said to me after that, all I know is I was absolutely overwhelmed with joy. We kept laughing and hugging and smiling ear-to-ear because we both couldn’t believe what was actually happening. I even made him pause so I could take everything in for a moment! When he got down on one knee and opened the jewelry box to reveal my great-grandmother’s ring, I could feel my hands shaking (and not from the cold!). I was blown away. He slid the ring onto my finger and I gave him the biggest hug I could.
The day Kris proposed was the best day of my life thus far and I cannot wait until the day we say “I do”. I truly feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have met the man of my dreams so early in life . He’s the only guy I’ve ever loved and the only person I could ever imagine doing life with.
