I first knew I wanted to marry Aubrey when we were at Disney World celebrating her 21st birthday.  We were about to celebrate our 1 year anniversary the following month, and I knew the previous year had been the best since coming to Georgia Southern. After an exciting day at Hollywood Studios, I was talking to my friends, and I let them know I was going to marry Aubrey someday. This was the first time I was sure I was going to spend the rest of my life with her.

 

Around Halloween this year, my roommates and I threw a Halloween party.  My friends Cody and Talley were coming in from out of town, and we had all planned to dress up as Greasers and Pink Ladies from the movie Grease. When the night was coming to an end, I took Aubrey home and proceeded to go out to sit next to the bonfire with my friends. We started to talk about the future, and I informed them how I was beginning to save for a ring so I could ask Aubrey to marry spend the rest of her life with me.

 

Thanksgiving crept up on me before I knew what to do.  Aubrey and I had managed to get our families to come together and have Thanksgiving dinner together at my grandparents’ house.  During the festivities I got Aubrey’s sister, Shelby, to come talk alone with me, and I told her of my intentions to begin looking for a ring for Aubrey. She was ecstatic for us and was also excited to be able to help me because she knew she would get to be the Maid of Honor.

 

During the Christmas holiday, I began my ring shopping and went to a couple of stores while I was in Cookeville visiting family. Shelby had mentioned to me that I needed to look on her Pinterest page to find her perfect ring.  I found a couple different rings that I knew Aubrey would fall in love with just as I had with her.

 

Not long after Christmas break ended, I went on a camping trip with Aubrey’s dad and his friends from work as per the usual camping trip. Although we were in South Georgia, it was still January and we were forced inside on the final nights of our camping trip due to the low temperatures that were creeping in.  I knew I wanted to ask Mr. Joe for his permission to ask Aubrey to marry me during this weekend.  As we all finished our dinners, we started to sit down and talk. I knew that I was running out of the time as the night kept progressing. I was all in shambles because I did not know what he was going to say. So I proceeded to ask him if we could talk outside.  We walked outside and started to talk about everything that had happened during the weekend. I bided my time and decided to ask him carefully.  I began by mentioning how Aubrey and I had been together for a while now, and we were preparing to graduate in May. I knew I would need well mapped out plans as to my future and be able to provide for her. I eventually asked Mr. Joe, and to my astonishment, he was more laid back about the entire conversation than I expected. He knew Aubrey and I  were both motivated individuals and had planned our futures out carefully. He wanted to make sure I was ready for the important decisions that were going to be coming my way very quickly. He gave me his approval and soon we proceeded inside to join back up with everyone.

 

Not long after I got Mr. Joe’s approval, my family’s world was turned upside down.  My niece, Emery Hope McCants, had been born the week following my departure from Tennessee. I was on my way to work one morning, and I received a call from my mom that Emery was in a worsening condition and probably was not going to make it past the morning. She said she would keep me updated and got off the phone.  I clung to my phone all morning. Around 11 that morning I got a text from my mom saying sweet Emery had passed away.  As fast as I could I pack my bags I  was on my way to Tennessee to be with my family. After a very long weekend and much thinking on my part we laid sweet Emery to rest. I began to think more on my life at the time and what exactly I wanted. The day before I left, I went to look for rings one last time because I knew when I went to Tennessee again I wanted to buy a ring for the love of my life. As I started to go buy the one ring I found on one of my earlier trips, I realized the store I was going to was closed. So, knowing this I proceeded to go to Kay Jewelers in Cookeville. I was surprised by how engaged the sales person was with me.  She actually cared about what she was doing and what I was looking for in the perfect ring. After looking at several rings, I saw one more I wanted to look at before I  left. I asked the clerk let me see the ring. From the moment I saw it I knew that ring was the one I wanted to see on Aubrey’s hand.  The ring was a beautiful twisted band with a princess cut stone in the middle. I knew she would love it.

 

When I left Tennessee I was still planning on waiting until around graduation time to ask Aubrey to marry me.  On my way back to Georgia I had a lot of time to sit and think about the events of the previous week and how it would affect me for the rest of my life. I kept thinking how I now had the means to make the decision I had wanted to do for almost a year now. I proceeded to ask Shelby what she thought and then in turn talked to Mr. Joe about the possibility of moving up the asking time out of respect. He advised me to think carefully and not make an emotional decision. As the trip neared the end I decided I was going to do it that day, so I called Aubrey’s roommate, Rebecca. Rebecca is a photographer who I knew would love to be involved in the proposal.

 

I knew Aubrey would get out of class at 5:15 p.m. that day, so I knew I had around an hour to get everything ready for the proposal.  Rebecca had warned me of the possibility of rain that day, but I was not going to be deterred once I had made up my mind. Rebecca and I met up and planned out the best spot for the proposal on Sweetheart Circle. Once we were prepared, Rebecca filmed a short video of me letting everyone know I was about to ask the love of my life to marry her. After her class let out, I met her to go to the photo shoot we had spontaneously planned with Rebecca that day. Aubrey began to notice it looked like it was going to rain, so she began to get suspicious about what was going on. I quickly picked her up and took her to the spot Rebecca and I had picked. Since it was about to rain, Rebecca was in a hurry and was starting to freak Aubrey out by asking me if I was ready. Aubrey kept repeating herself by saying, “what is going on?”

 

So I quickly got down on one knee and proceeded to ask the best woman I have ever met to spend the rest of her life with me. I wanted her to know that I could love her as much as she loves me and that I could take care of her no matter the situation. She is the best thing to ever happen to me, and I could not wish to spend the rest of my life with anyone else. It amazes me to think I about went to  school in Starkville, MS. Coming to Georgia Southern has changed my life in so many ways, and this is just the best example of how I can explain this.

 

If you have not been able to deduce by now, I was granted my wish from the previous 365 days and the love of my life said YES to me. Now I can look forward to the best days of my life for the rest of my life. I hope you can join us on June 3, 2017 as we celebrate the rest of our lives together.

 

 

Thank you