How We Met: Kelly and I met over three years ago at my sister Emily’s wedding in Austin, TX. I was the Maid of Honor and Kelly was a wedding guest of my brother-in-law. At the time, I was a senior in college at Texas A&M University, which is where Kelly graduated from a couple of years before we met. He liked that we had that in common and it was a great way to break the ice. I was immediately drawn to Kelly’s ability to capture an audience and we found ourselves in many conversations the rest of the weekend.
The night of the wedding, the both of us were lost in conversation until next thing we know, it’s the last song of the night. As soon as the DJ announced the last song was to be played, Kelly turned around to put his drink down to ask me for a dance, and next thing he knows, my younger cousin swept me away for the final dance. That was Kelly’s chance and it was lost! Through the shuffle of my sister’s send off and saying goodbye to family members, Kelly and I didn’t speak much for the rest of the night.
My parents hosted a brunch at their house the following morning for all out of town guests and I had asked Kelly if he was going in hopes to see him again before he drove back to San Antonio. I woke up early that morning to get ready and everything, but Kelly never came. I realized that we had no way of speaking again soon, as Kelly did not get my phone number and he did not have a Facebook at the time.
It was months until Kelly and I spoke again. I received my Aggie Ring a few months after the wedding and Kelly had found out that news. Wanting to congratulate me, Kelly asked a friend for my phone number and he texted me that day. I was happy to hear from him, but I was distracted my Spring finals to pay much attention to what was happening. Next thing I know, Kelly is wishing me luck each morning before my finals and giving me small pep talks to get through it. I though that was so sweet!
Kelly and I started playing the game Words With Friends while I was in classes and we started chatting regularly throughout the day. Before I knew it, we were talking all day everyday. I had a huge crush on him but was hesitant because he lived 3 hours away! After much back-and-forth, we decided to see each other in San Antonio for an official date that July. We started dating and after I graduated that December, I moved to San Antonio to be with him. The rest is history!
how they asked: The week prior to that Saturday, I was on a business trip in New Jersey so I was oblivious to any planning and shuffling that was going on to make Saturday possible. I arrived in San Antonio Friday night and was exhausted, so I came home and just relaxed before melting into my bed. It was chilly and rainy all week in New Jersey, so Kelly had the idea that we spend the day on the Riverwalk and catch up on each other’s week.
Going to the Riverwalk is not out of the ordinary for us so I wasn’t suspicious of anything special going on. I was craving warm weather and sunshine so I was on board immediately. We woke up and Kelly made our usual Saturday morning breakfast of eggs and turkey bacon. We sipped coffee, watched The Pioneer Woman, and just took in the morning.
He told me he wanted to leave the house by 11:00 so we can get there before lunch and sip some cocktails. I got ready for the day and Kelly came in and checked on me at least 6 times.
“How much longer until you’re ready, Mary Lou?”
“You gonna be ready in 20 minutes?”
“How’s it going, Lou? You ready yet?”
My goodness! I was ready just before 11 and he then says, “Nice! We are actually early!” I was confused on what the rush was but we got in the car and headed that way. I pulled up our favorite Spotify playlist and played our usual songs we love. I was looking for feedback from Kel about what he wanted to hear and it’s as if I wasn’t in the car. He wasn’t hearing me and would reply with one word answers. So weird. I know now it’s because he was anxious and had a million things going through his mind.
We parked in the parking garage and on our way down we were talking about where we wanted to go. We had talked about going somewhere new the day before because we always hit up the same spots. We were walking down to the river and I continued to make conversation but got nothing. A lot of, “I’m sorry, babe, what did you say?”
Poor guy wasn’t listening at all. We got down to the water and immediately walked up on a wedding! The bride was literally walking down the aisle so I whipped out my camera and was taking pictures. Not that I need to remind you, but Kelly couldn’t have cared less. He kept pacing and finally pulled the, “Lou, let’s keep walking.”
So we started walking under a bridge and I realized that there was nothing but hotels ahead and no restaurants like we were looking for. I suggested we turn around and Kelly then said, “Well let’s walk over here and see if we can see anything interesting.” We walked, holding hands, along the sidewalk by the water and suddenly Kelly stops walking and drops my hand. Confused, I look behind me and Kelly is just standing there. I looked at him confused and before I could ask what was wrong he just looks at me and says, “Mary Lou, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”
The hesitancy in his voice said it all. Kelly is the most outgoing and charismatic guy I know so when I heard his shaky voice, I immediately knew what was going on. I don’t know why but the first thing that came out of my mouth was, “Right now??” He just replied, “Yes.”
I started bawling.
I will spare you the mushy stuff he said in his proposal, but I will say, again, he swept me off my feet. He blew me away and he said the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. A few of the Riverwalk river barges passed by after he proposed so we got boat loads of cheers and clapping immediately after. Literally. I heard some cheers and applause coming from behind us so Kelly said, “Oh look at those people cheering over there!”
I looked behind me and there was a group of strangers cheering and taking pictures of us. Then after I scanned a little over to the right of that group, Kelly had my Mom, my Dad, and his Mom standing over there to surprise me. I screamed. And started bawling again. It was another amazing surprise.
They walked over to us and we celebrated and cried some more. We took tons of pictures and my mom actually took pictures of the whole thing! (Nice move, Kel.) After a small celebration, Kelly proclaimed his need for a cocktail to calm the nerves so we went to a nearby restaurant and we all shared a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
Kelly then surprised me by taking us to the restaurant where we had our first date and had all of our friends and family there to surprise me. It was incredible. We celebrated the rest of the day and it was the best day of my life!
