How We Met
Leon and I met in the summer of 2017 in Prague, Czech Republic, both on different travel adventures. I was on studies abroad with friends from university and he was at his best friend’s bachelor party. Three days after we met for the first time, we had our first date. As Leon hadn’t done much exploring, we decided to go out and explore the city of Prague, seeing its sights lit up in the night. We roamed the streets hand in hand, we laughed, we talked about everything from hopes and dreams to silly things and somehow in my heart, I knew it was him.
It wasn’t until 4 am that we kissed goodbye, and it was only because Leon had to leave for his flight home at 5:30 am. I remember Leon kissing me outside the taxi and saying he knew we’d see each other again someday, even though we lived on different sides of the world. As the car drove me away from him my heart broke at the thought that I may never see my other half again.
We spoke to each other every day since that first date, even though fate put us 8 hours time difference apart. But we knew we’d somehow make it work.
It wasn’t until 6 months later that we saw each other face to face again, and it felt just like that night. I knew after that, we were each other’s other-halves.
The next two years were spent both flying back and forth between the UK and the USA, traveling together to explore as many new countries as we could, just like our first date, and being lucky enough to not go but two months without each other at a time.
In the summer of 2019, we decided we would end the distance by both living together in England.
How They Asked
On the 24th of September 2019, I boarded a one-way flight to London Heathrow to move in with Leon and live in England permanently.
Heathrow had been such a sad place full of goodbyes in the last two years, but this day changed that forever. Every time Leon had picked me up from the airport, he came in a suit with a bouquet of flowers for me. This time I walked through customs and saw Leon standing there waiting for me in a tuxedo, holding 2 dozen red roses and the biggest smile.
I lit up with so much excitement to finally be there with him and to finally know the distance was over, I had just moved to England! I was excited, I was relieved, I felt a little bit nervous, but I had no idea that once I walked through the gated off area of the customs-exit, my life was changing forever for a different reason.
Once I got to his arms he hugged me like crazy and we smiled and looked at each other as if we had to be sure the moment was actually real. A few seconds later, before I could even register what was happening, Leon dropped to his knee right there and said, “Emily, do you know that I’ve loved you since the day I first saw you? I can’t wait anymore. Emily, will you be my wife?”
And I said yes!! Right there in Heathrow terminal 5!
