How We Met
We met at a Pride party in Durham, NC four years ago while a Ru Paul Drag Race Event was being held. Her childhood best friend is my best friend from college. This friend, Tegan, introduced us. I was interested from the moment I saw her. She kept whispering to me how much she loved Ru Paul and the drag queen Adore that was performing at the moment.
I wanted to impress her and get away from my friends who were silently celebrating behind Allison so I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the stage. We managed to get to the very front and watch all of Adore’s performance. We talked on and off as the event carried on and then danced the rest of the night away. I got her number at the end of the night and binged two seasons of Ru Paul the next day to have an excuse to text her. We haven’t been apart since and still have weekly date nights to watch episodes of Ru Paul Drag Race together!
How They Asked
I always imagined proposing to Allison at the beach. It’s where we fell in love while doing long distance between Carrboro, NC and Wilmington, NC, it’s where we’ve shared some of our most romantic dates, and it’s where we tried to awkwardly and very shyly say ‘I love you’ for the first time. I planned a beach weekend getaway for June 5-7.
We are both frontline respiratory therapists so the cover seemed easy enough- to get away from the stress we have been under recently. I bought her a nice dress and told her I had reservations at a nice seafood restaurant on Saturday night. The air b&b I rented was large with a built-in bar, lots of bedrooms, and a fenced-in backyard and patio- plenty of space for a surprise engagement party and our dog Thor to be comfortable.
We got dressed up for dinner on Saturday night and as we drove closer to the beach, I told her we were going to go for a walk first for a few oceanfront photos since we looked so nice prior to dinner. As we walked out on to the beach, she walked up to a blanket set up with champagne, flowers, wine glasses, a charcuterie board, and a book I had made. She bent down to grab the book and began to read it. Each page had pictures to fit a theme of why I loved her or what I looked forward to with our marriage and photos of us and our adventures for the past three years of dating.
It then ended with the words, “I just have one more question to ask you”. Thank god I made the book because at that point I was crying and struggling to keep my composure. I had waited so long for this moment and had to reschedule the event so many times due to COVID, that it was so bittersweet to finally be present with her and watch my plan perfectly unfold. I had a long, romantic, and eloquent speech laid out in my head but staring at her with the ring in my hand, my mind just went blank. All I could think was “wow this is happening” and “holy cow, she is beautiful”.
I don’t know what I said or if it even made sense. All I remember is getting down on one knee and then hearing her say yes. I had to ask her what hand the ring went on because my brain couldn’t process which was her left hand. As the ring slide on her finger, our friends and 9-month old puppy Thor ran out from behind a sand dune to celebrate and hug us! I also had a hidden photographer to capture the moment and have a mini engagement shoot right there on the spot.
After drinking some champagne, lots of hugs, and photos, I drove us back to the air b&b where I had more friends and family sneak in to set up a surprise mini engagement party with themed cocktails, a taco bar, a cake, and lots of decorations. It could not have gone more perfectly! And to top it off, right at the beginning of Pride month! I am so proud to announce my engagement and show off my beautiful new fiancée!!
