How We Met
It was the day before Canada day and I was out with my girlfriends celebrating, with water, the final day of Sober June. But when I looked up at the guy across the bar from me, I thought, ‘I sure wish I was drunk today so that I could have a reason to go home with that hot guy over there.’
Probably because I kept staring, he came over and asked if I would take a photo of him and his friends – and it was the most blurry photo of all time. I still maintain that it was the lighting that ruined it.I remember thinking that there’s no way a guy this good looking could actually be anything more than an asshole. But those blue eyes conned me into giving him my phone number.
We texted back and forth about motorycles and I denied his invitation to meet up later that night. I went to be thinking I had pegged him right – but woke up the next morning to a text with three simple words, ‘lunch, pretty girl?’
Lunch was delicious. And don’t judge a book by its cover, ladies. Mine happens to be a sweetheart wrapped up inside of a bad ass biker body. No complaints.
our relationship
It always happens when you least except it – the good and the bad. Out of nowhere, we were madly in love – riding and kissing our way through the weekends, traveling the world, and experiencing a level of happiness and peace that we never thought possible. We exchanged I love you’s upon returning back to my dorm room at the University of Stockholm after the most amazing vacation in Greece together. And then, 3 months from that fateful Canada day when we met and 5 days after we first said “I love you”, I got a phone call that stopped my heart and changed our world as we knew it. It was as if the universe was saying, “Oh yeah, you love each other? Prove it.”
I left school in Sweden, came home, and we started down a grueling 2+ year path – one that is still in progress. Everyday he faced new challenges – how to walk again, how to open his eyes and see properly, how to love himself – but the way he showed his love for me only grew.
That which doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. And there was only two possible ways that this could go – we were either going to be beaten by it, or it was going to make us stronger. Our greatest joy in life is that it was the latter. We are stronger for it, we are kinder and more compassionate for it, and we love deeper for it.
how they asked
Cody and I awoke on Saturday, December 19, 2015 to a beautifully clear Winter day – I was relieved because I knew that he was going for a ride with some buddies later – he was even more relieved because he knew that much more than that was planned for the day.
The bike battery had been in our living room charging overnight in preparation for his ride, and after getting it all hooked back up again he rode off. We were planning on dinner with friends shortly thereafter so I hung around home waiting for him to return. An hour later, Cody called – “babe, something is wrong with the bike, battery maybe or what, but I’m stuck at Mt. Tolmie so can you please bring some jumper cables up here?” I felt so bad for him – he had been looking so forward to this ride! Maybe the charger we had borrowed hadn’t worked properly – poor guy! I jumped in the car and drove to the top of the mountain (which also happened to be where we had our second date…you’d think I would’ve expected something exciting was about to happen, but I was completely clueless).
Cody helped me out of the car and led me over to where the bike was parked. He asked if I would turn the key over slightly while he bent down on the ground to “check for any leaks”.
“Is the red light on?” “Yep” “Do you see anything?” “Not yet.”As I turned my head away from the dash to look at Cody, I see that he is down on one knee behind me… with a ring box in his hand.
“Holly Gabrielle Lucas…” *TEARS*
I didn’t think I would cry so much, but seeing the love of my life kneeling before me, the most beautiful ring in his hands, saying the most beautiful things, there was no controlling it.
As he held me in his arms after the “YES” and many hugs and kisses – he pointed out that we had our very own paparazzi hiding in the bushes. Cody had heard me mention, over a year ago, that my favorite wedding photographers were AMERIS. He had contacted them prior to the proposal and orchestrated that they capture the whole thing. Cody had told them our story – 3 months into our relationship he was in a motorcycle accident that nearly took his life. It is over 2 years later and he is still enduring surgeries to try and recover – so it was extra special to have him include our new motorcycle in this moment.
He told Ameris our story, and they went out of their way to not only do this for us at Christmas time (this was their first propsal shoot ever – it’s not a service that they normally offer) but to do it for FREE. We feel so blessed by them and thank them hugely for helping to make that day unforgettable. Thank you also to our family and friends who we had SO much fun sharing our big news with and who celebrated us in great fashion.
