How We Met
Phil and I met in high school, in our hometown of Falmouth, Massachusetts. He was a popular upperclassman senior and I was just a young sophomore still trying to navigate high school. He was the prom and homecoming king, captain of two sports teams, and was accepted to attend a United States Service Academy for college the next year, so you can guess that I figured he was way too cool to ever notice someone like me! Phil’s age sits just between my two older brothers, so they knew him through classes and sports. Phil’s family lived just down the road from my family, so about halfway through the school year, he began to give my brother Jamey and I rides to school. The car rides were always pretty quiet – a car full of high school kids in the early hours of the morning typically didn’t include much talking. Phil says that he remembers what I was wearing when I stepped out of our house on the first day that he picked us up, which I have my doubts about, but hey, it’s a pretty romantic thought!
Just as he was finishing up the school year and graduating to head off to college at Kings Point, he and I began to talk and as an attempt at a double-date with friends, we hung out for the first time. Throughout his first year in college we stayed in contact and remained friends, making plans to see one another each time he was home. I finished high school and headed off to my first year of college, and he and I remained still in contact. We got together the summer after my first year of college, which at the time seemed crazy and unlikely because we had been friends for years by that time and we had both grown up so much in our own ways. Our first real date was romantic, awkward, and gave me all of the feels! After our third date, when I heard the words that I had been hoping for so many years to hear, “will you be my girlfriend?” I couldn’t believe that the cute older boy from high school that I once thought was way too cool to ever know who I am was going to be my first boyfriend. That was the start of what would become our amazing hometown love story.
how they asked
Phil and I moved from Massachusetts down to Maryland about a year and a half ago when I began graduate school in Baltimore. We don’t get a ton of time together home on Cape Cod these days, as our schedules are so busy between work and school that it has become pretty hard to find the time. While we were home for the holidays, we spent time with family and friends and enjoyed our hometown together for the first time in several months. On New Years Eve, Phil texted all of our friends that were home for the holidays asking if they wanted to go skating on a frozen pond, as we had had about a week of temperatures that had been below freezing, and we thought it would be a fun thing for everyone to do together. All of our closest friends and both of our families were there. We cleared the fresh snow off from a section of the ice, built a fire, and set ourselves up for a frigid, but fun morning. After everyone had laced up, skated around for a bit, and begun socializing, we decided to take a group photo together. After the group photos were taken, everyone dispersed from the center of the ice but Phil remained by my side. He said, “Morgan, I have a question to ask you…” and grabbed my hand. He got down on one knee and the rest was a teary blur for me. After he said that he loved me and said a few other things that I couldn’t remember, I heard the words, “Will you marry me?” and after a few seconds of catching my breath, I nodded yes, and our friends and family began cheering and applauding. When I took the chance to look at the ring, I noticed first how beautifully sparkly it was, and immediately recognized the center diamond. Phil said, “Your father gave this diamond to your mother…” and all of my tears came rushing back! The diamond on my ring was given to my mother by my father for their fifth wedding anniversary, celebrating the beginning of their lives as parents as an addition to her beautiful emerald wedding ring. Being the only girl in my family, I was a total daddy’s girl growing up and he and I were very similar which made us very close. My dad passed away when I was 16 after a few years of battling cancer, so every piece of him that I have means so much to me.
Phil and I had talked about rings and settings in the past, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would have such a beautiful, meaningful piece of jewelry that would remind me both of my dad who is such a huge part of me, while being a gift from the man that I have been so lucky to find as my soulmate. Knowing that this diamond that my dad had so specially picked out for my mom as a celebration of their lives together has now become a symbol for the beginning of my life with Phil is so special to me and I feel so lucky. I am so lucky that Phil recognizes the closeness I had with my dad, and so incredibly lucky to spend the rest of my life with a caring, loving man like him.
