How We Met
We first locked eyes 3 years ago through punching bags and boxing gloves in our tiny Alabama beach town. We were both trying something new which is unusual for both of our shy, awkward personalities. We first bonded when I was fumbling around the gym with a hair tie stuck in my hair and Lily volunteered to come to my rescue. Usually terrified of strangers’ hair, Lily grabbed a pair of scissors and without hesitating cut away at my hair. Lily was drawn to my sarcasm and wittiness and I was drawn to her humor and softness. We couldn’t stop laughing and instantly became friends.
While pushing each other to reach our physical goals we were also helping each other through tough times and reaching mental goals. There was a draw to her that was nothing short of magic, it’s hard to describe the exact moment something switched for us, almost like we had always been riding that line. Then one day on the beach in June, Lily just blurted out “So do you like me?”. This was totally out of character for the usually shy and quiet girl I had come to know so I was stunned! Eventually, I just giggled and muttered the word “yes”. The rest, as they say, is history and we have been having the greatest adventure since.
How They Asked
The setting was New Orleans- a place that is magical to us. The place we took our first trip together and fell in love. The place we would visit time and time again over the years to break from reality and just be together. We fell in love with the history, architecture, art, music and the people of NOLA. But most of all it was a place for us to escape the judgments of our small southern town and be unashamedly us.
Lily planned a trip for us to go for a few days in October to see one of my favorite bands and spend time with my childhood best friend. For the first time in our relationship, I let go of my control freak ways and let her plan everything. Little did I know it would be a trip to change our lives forever. Our first night in NOLA, Lily had planned for us to have a romantic dinner, just the two of us. We got dressed up (a rarity for us normally dressed in tees and Vans) and headed to the heart of the city, Jackson Square. Lily insisted on taking pictures before dinner since we were so ~fancy~ but in typical NOLA fashion, the fog and rain moved in as soon as we stepped foot out of the Uber. Hair ruined, clothes wrinkled, and moods shifted. We tried to make the best of it and managed to take a couple of photos. Lily wanted photos in front of the fountain so we walked that way.
And that’s when I saw it- The Night Sky (backstory- we both nerd out over the sky, especially the way the stars decorate it in the dark and both had tried to gift each other with this before but kept ruining the surprise for each other). I immediately knew it was for me and walked closer to read the words “Will you marry me?” along with the date and location.
Laughter and tears quickly followed along with screams and cheers from what seemed like all over the French Quarter. Lily asked me to adventure with her for the rest of our lives and I didn’t say yes, but “HELL YES!”. We saw no stars that night but the moment was nothing short of magic.
