How We Met
Aaron and I met September 21, 2012. My family and I had just moved back to Louisiana after 12 years of living in Dallas, Texas.
My dad had just started coaching my sister’s basketball team, so our whole family went to a barbecue to welcome the new coaches. One of those coaches was Aaron Taylor, JV boys basketball coach. I had started helping Aaron keep the books for his basketball games, and we immediately hit it off and became best friends. Where there was one of us, the other was never far behind!
After about a year of being “best friends” we realized that somewhere along the way things had changed and that we both really, REALLY liked each other.
November 6, 2013, we officially started dating!
When I was little, my mom used to sing “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire to me! I grew up loving that song. The very first words to the song are: “Do you remember the 21st night of September?” When I realized that Aaron and I met on September first, it blew my mind. My Mom used to sing that to me as a little girl, and little did I know… I’d meet my husband the very same day.
how they asked
Basketball was a HUGE part of what brought us together, and continues to be a huge part of our lives to this day. Aaron volunteers as the head basketball coach for a high school team here in Baton Rouge, and I continue to help him with everything I can.
He calls me up on Monday (September 21st, 2015) and says we need to be at practice a little early and that I should just meet him and ride with him. He says that since this is our 3 year anniversary of knowing each other, we’d go out to eat afterwards. I threw on some basketball shorts and and a t-shirt and ran out the door!
On the way to the gym, Aaron was acting SO weird. I kept asking him if he was hiding something from me, and he just deflected the question over and over. I just let it go.
We get to the gym and no one is there. I got out of the truck and he told me to wait so he could get this basketballs out of the back. I could hear someone inside, so I asked him if some of his guys got dropped off. He said no, and no one was there yet.
“Aaron. There are people in the gym!” At this point I was kind of thinking that his players were inside trying to scare us.
He opened the door and immediately our song (September) started playing. I see my brother standing there recording with his tablet. My whole family, his whole family, and our friends are all there!
I turned around and Aaron pulled the ring out of his pocket, and got down on one knee. The only thing I could think to say was “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” To which Aaron replied: “WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE I’M DOING?!”
In my defense, we had discussed getting married before. BUT! We had talked about doing that sometime after the summer of 2016, so I am completely and totally surprised at the moment. We hadn’t even looked at rings!
Anyway! I’m just standing there in total disbelief. And Aaron looks at me and says, “Sarah, I love you. And I really want to spend my life with you. (long pause) Will you marry me?” I can’t really tell you if I verbally said yes. Actually, I can’t really tell you if I was even breathing at that point! I just know that I threw my arms around that man and cried… then laughed… then cried again. He laughed and said “So, that’s a yes!” I looked at my dad and said “You knew about this?!?!” Then I remember hearing his mom say “Girl, look at your ring!” And there it was. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen! I didn’t pick it out, but I don’t think I could have picked something more perfect.
I don’t know how he pulled it off without me knowing, or how our families kept it a secret. What I do know is that I am marrying the most considerate, kind hearted, thoughtful man on this planet. I will never forget his face as I’m standing there in my basketball shorts, t-shirt, and tennis shoes looking at him kneeling there with the ring in his hands (which were totally shaking even though he denies it to this day) and that smile across his face. He knew it. He knew how perfect everything played out. He knew that I was totally blind sided. He knew that I was overflowing with joy. He knew that there was no way I would say anything but yes to the man who knows me so well and loves me so unconditionally.
And some slightly more attractive photos;)
