How We Met
we met in 2003, in high school spanish. we sat near enough to each other due to our last names. he noticed me first, i was dating someone so stephen became my best friend at school. once i stopped seeing them, he asked me to homecoming the following year. it was then that he admitted his true feelings for me and i realized the depth of mine for him. we dated for years to come after with various events along the way: broken foot that occurred at prom, after which he carried me to my door since i couldn’t walk; my moving away for undergraduate at UF and graduate school at USF; him moving to tampa to finish school and start our life together; adopting a kitten together (arya). through it all we’ve made each other the priority and our adventures together. 12 years later, the real adventure begins!
how they asked
we had planned to go to an event called dapper day at the magic kingdom for months. you get dresses up in retro or themed outfits and go to disney with other people and have a great time! we planned our outfits and got him a matching bowtie. the night before, we went out to dinner with my parents who has driven up from south florida to see us (who knew about everything for months!) and it was spectacular. the next morning we woke up and has breakfast with them in the hotel. stephen didn’t eat much but i chalked that up to it being earlier than he normally wakes. we got to the magic kingdom and met our friends, carrie and rob, on main street usa. stephen and i always take pictures in front of the castle and he said he got the photo package so we could get great pictures the whole day, i again assumed this was because we were dressed up and looking good!
we take a few staged shots, couple with my newly gifted parasol open and cute, and then i think we’re done and so does the photographer. he comes up to scan out magic bands and stephen tells him “wait i have an idea for one more”…and pulls out the ring. as soon as he opened the box and i saw the pear bezel ring of my dreams, i clapped my hand over my mouth and started to cry! thankfully he’d bought me that parasol because i used it for balance almost immediately. i made sure to look up and look at his eyes as he was down on bended knee: jacqueline, will you marry me? i cried out yes and jumped into his arms, the ring was later! our happily ever after started at the happiest place on earth!
