How we met
We met at school. She lived on the floor below me, and one day I saw her walking to lunch, and I just had to know who she was. I didn’t get a chance to talk to her that day (time isn’t something of abundance there at school) but I did know a friend of mine that was in her company. After a fee days I talked to my buddy described this cute little blonde girl that I couldn’t wait to meet. He agreed to help me meet her, but it turned out he was taking too long for me. He did tell me she was on the soccer team. Sometime later I had heard that the team was heading away for a tournament and figured it was my best opportunity. I was finally was able to “strike up a conversation” with her one day and all I could get out was “hey! so and so (my friend) told me you play soccer? good luck in your game this weekend! I’ve heard good things about you!” Looking back at that, I’m pretty lucky she even acknowledged me haha but that was all it took to start a conversation and we started talking and seemed to hit it off pretty well. We exchanged numbers we started talking more and more and then eventually started dating.
how they asked
Obviously I really wanted to do something special for her. Something that she would want to tell her friends back home about. Something for her to remember the proposal. But coming up with a plan wasn’t as easy at it seemed in the cheesy movies she makes me watch sometimes. In our time dating I knew there were three things that mattered most to my Jamie: soccer, her family, and her friends. So I knew if there was any way I could include those things somehow, she would love whatever I could come up with. But her being from California, it would be pretty hard to get her family involved somehow. So I came up with a few plans in my head, but I didn’t really like them too much. Then I looked at her soccer schedule and realized the biggest game of the season would be at West Point this year, and would also be the last regular season game! I spoke with her parents and they told me that her mom, dad, sister, and grandma were going to come watch her last game! I knew somehow I had to figure out a way to do it that weekend. The only way I could figure out how to do it was after the game on the field… I knew that came with a risk (like what if they lost??) but it was the plan I decided on.
When the day came closer the event seemed to get bigger. Not only was this game against our biggest rivals, they were undefeated and hadn’t been scored on in league play, and it was a must win to continue in the league tournament. I was really nervous that if it was a loss, I wouldn’t be able to ask because she would be so upset, she’s played the game since she could walk. I couldn’t really talk to anyone to ease my anxiousness either because had to keep it a secret from everybody at school (word travels fast there) and I didn’t want it to get out. I was able to get her mom to help me some and put me in contact with her assistant coach to help complete my plan. She would huddle up the girls after the game in the center of the field and I would come out and surprise her! But this made me even more nervous, because the head coach found out and made me swear to not tell any of the girls so they could focus on the big game. I needed one of her soccer friends to get her to get her nails done during the week (her one request for a proposal was that her nails be done) but I had to convince a girl without telling one of them “why” she needed her nails done. Even the day before, the weather forecast was predicting 100% chance of rain! I kept thinking “you can’t propose in the rain!!! Who does that??”
Finally on the day of, every hour the chance of rain kept going away. When the game was starting there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky! I took this as a sign that everything else HAD to workout perfectly… But I was still the most nervous I’ve been in all my life! The 45 minutes of the second half, seemed to take longer than my 4 years at West Point, but finally the clock was down to 5 minutes and it was obvious we would win 2-0. I went to the back of the field and waited for my cue. The coach and I agreed that she would circle them up, call her into the center of the team, “My Kind of Crazy” by Brantley Gilbert would play over the PA system (our song), and she would get the team to yell “panda panda panda” (an inside joke I still don’t understand) but they yelled it and I started the longest walk of my life! It was only about 25yds, but it felt like a couple miles. I finally got up to the group and they opened the circle to let me in and there she was, soaked in sweat from her soccer game, but looking more beautiful than I’d ever seen her in all my life!
I handed her a single red rose and said:”Jamie. I love you. I’ve loved you since the day I saw you. And I have you here with everything I know you love in life: your best friends, your family, and you’re on the field that you love where you give your everything everyday. I know soccer has been your life since the day you could walk, but now that it’s starting to come to a close, I was wondering if you would start a new life with me? (Got on one knee and said) Jamie, will you marry me?”
She said yes, and then I honestly can’t remember the rest of the night. All I know is that I don’t think I stopped smiling for a few weeks and everyday with her just gets better and better.