How We Met
I’m lucky enough to have known Marshall since middle school, when we met at Junior Assembly. You know that super awkward and forced interaction at that age? It’s brutal. Especially when it’s dance and social etiquette instruction…how romantic, right? Anyways, Marshall and I went to different middle schools and hardly ever saw each other than at the Junior Assembly dances. But to keep the flame lit, Marshall still called my home phone everyday around 3:15 after school. We would talk for about 10 minutes and then tell each other we loved the other every time before hanging up. Marshall was always a little Romeo. He once left a teddy bear basket on my front door steps for Valentine’s Day. I mean, if you ask me, this was a pretty serious and long-term middle school relationship. But as you know, all good things must come to an end. One afternoon on the phone, Marshall so-eloquently told me he did not want to date me anymore. Nevertheless, he broke my heart. No sixth grader should have to suffer from heart break! I remember telling my dad I would NEVER talk to Marshall Phillips again…
Fast forward to High school in 2004. Marshall and I would share glances and smiles at one another in the hallways but never anything more. We were both in relationships at the time but it was obvious that our middle school romance was still stirring up some interest between the two of us. Having barely exchanged any words all of high school, we both graduated and went on with our lives. Marshall went to the University of North Carolina and I went to Wofford College.
So here I am, nearly 8 years later, and Marshall contacts me. June 28th, 2015. I remember I was at the beach with my mom having a girls weekend and suddenly my phone lights up with a Facebook notification that read “Marshall Phillips sent you a message.” I squinted my eyes, looked away, and then looked back again. It was real. My initial thought, to be honest, was “what the hell?” I turned to my mom and told her and she said, “middle school Marshall Phillips?! What a blast from the past!” It sure was a blast from the past, but I have to admit I was a little excited. We spent the next few hours messaging back and forth about what we had been up to the past EIGHT years. I remember how natural our conversation was and how much we had in common.
I hadn’t related to someone like this in years. Marshall promised me that if I gave him another chance, he wouldn’t let me down…and boy was he right! Eventually, Marshall invited me to come visit him in Savannah once he returned home from Germany (Marshall was a 1LT in the Army and was in Germany at the time.) I agreed to come visit him that July for a weekend. The moment I saw his face for the first time after 8 years, I knew right in THAT moment that I loved him. Marshall still tells me he knew he loved me from the moment we started talking. It was an amazing weekend and we starting dating a few days after!…the rest is history :)
how they asked
We were on our way out of beautiful Savannah before heading to Oklahoma (Army life!). We had packed up our stuff, ate at our favorite restaurants, and said our last goodbyes to our closest friends. The only thing we hadn’t done is get some professional pictures taken while we were in such a beautiful city. Luckily, one of my best friends in Savannah is a very talented photographer and agreed to take some pictures on our last night before we left. We headed to Forsyth Park, which is full of beautiful trees and has a gorgeous, well known fountain. We had taken a few pictures around the park before heading to get a picture in front of the fountain. (Little did I know, Marshall had contacted the photographer earlier that day and told her he was going to propose to me.) Suddenly, our photographer tells Marshall to stand behind me and whisper all the things he loves about me into my ear.
Marshall managed a few nervous words before he dropped to one knee.
I turned and looked to see what he was doing and I couldn’t believe what I saw. We had talked about him proposing, but I was caught by total surprise!
Once I caught my breathe I said, “Yes!”, obviously!
All I could do was hug and kiss him afterwards.
It was the best moment of my life. Marshall knows how much I love surprises and he seriously couldn’t have done better with this one!
The rest of the night was amazing. We changed into different clothes to take post engagement photos and then went to one of my favorite rooftop bars to celebrate with some champagne!
Later that night Marshall told me that he had asked my dad for my hand in marriage when we were at the beach with my family over the 4th of July! The following day, we left for a cruise to the Bahamas that we had planned in the Spring. It was the perfect way to celebrate.
