A Sweet Surprise Proposal in Colorado

“Our love story begins at Disney World, of all places. It was August and I was a guest with my family at a resort there and Nathanael’s sister was a cast member. I met her on my birthday and she was so sweet and gave me a birthday cupcake, we exchanged instagrams and went on our way. The next day she DMs me and says she wants to introduce me to her brother, Nathanael. Nathanael and I start messaging each other on August 26th, 2019 and learning more about each other. He’s in the Coast Guard and is as we speak getting off of the ship in Virginia he’s been stationed on for a year. I’ve just moved to Florida with my family to attend college. He’s headed to a CG training school. We talk everyday and begin to see how much we have in common, how similar we are, and how much we enjoy our talks but it’s not until January 6th that we finally meet in person and once again of all places, at Disney World. Shortly after that the pandemic hits and we are both unable to travel but we continue to message and FaceTime long distance but we don’t see each other in person for almost a whole year. It’s December 26th when we finally meet face to face again and it’s only for a day, this is also the day we “officially” start dating. This is also when we first say I love you. At this point Nathanael is stationed in Boston and I’m attending school in central Florida but when he comes to visit the next time in March I end up flying back to Boston with him and while my stay was originally 2 weeks to quarantine with him, I stay for about 6 weeks because basically I refuse to leave. Eventually I head back to my God-forsaken dorm but between the extended time apart and all the recent time we had spent together it makes long distance all the harder to bear and one day I (mostly jokingly) bring up moving in together. We didn’t want to be over a thousand miles away from each other any longer so a few months later with my parent’s blessing, I move to Boston to be with Nathanael. And then almost a year later he proposes to me on May 26 2022 (notice all the 26’s?) and that brings us to current day. The thing that always amazes me about looking back on all this is how soon I knew. I knew for sure when I saw him walk up to me. I knew the first time I saw him in person and looked into his eyes and hugged him that this was it. I knew before this but something about that specific moment that will always be pressed into my memory told me that this was the man I’d someday marry, my soul mate. He was and continues to be my first love and my forever love and I thank God everyday for bringing us together and giving us this amazing story to tell.”

– Alayna, the bride to be