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HIS SIDE 

“Didn’t you go to Morgan Park?” That’s how this journey started about seven years ago. I met Jeneé while attending the University of Missouri in Columbia. It was the annual welcome back bbq that the University put on the week before classes started. I was in my sophomore year attending the event with a few of my friends. While watching the 3-on-3 basketball tournament, a young lady tapped me on my shoulder and asked me if I would mind moving over a bit so that she could see the game. I, of course, moved over, but when I did, I caught a glance of her. She seemed so familiar, as if we had met before. Morgan Park is the high school I attended in Chicago prior to Mizzou, so I assumed I had seen her there. She did graduate from Morgan Park, but was a year behind me. We exchanged contact info and I offered to show her and her friends around the campus any time they wanted. This was all intended to be platonic. Just me looking out for a group of girls from my home town.

We hung out a lot in group settings over the next few months, never really paying much attention to each other. She was stubborn and not afraid to speak her opinion (in detail). After some time, we began to hang out outside of group settings where we would sometimes stay up until 2 or 3 a.m. talking about who knows what. She was just an all-around cool person to hang out with. Somewhere during that time, I began to feel a certain type of way about her unexpectedly. Then came the denial phase where I convinced myself that I didn’t like her because we were just really cool and she didn’t like me like that anyway. Turns out I was wrong, and she was really just doing the same thing. It took us almost a year to finally stop pretending and just be together. Four years later, after we finished our undergraduate degree, we ended up in Athens, GA, so that she can pursue her masters.

The Moment He Popped The Question 

I purchased the ring from a Zales that I had taken her into previously for her birthday. The plan from here was to propose to her while we were back home in Chicago the following month. The hardest part was hiding it from her for a full month in the house that we both share. The kicker is that the day I purchased the ring, I had to make up an elaborate story to explain me getting home from work so late. She didn’t buy it and I was definitely in the dog house for that full month. The day came and my plan was to propose to her while we were taking a boat tour of the Chicago river, but it didn’t give me the opportunity I needed. I then thought about proposing on the ferris wheel at Navy Pier, only to find out there was a last-minute private party scheduled and they had blocked off access to the ferris wheel. Frustrated and feeling defeated by my poor planning, I simply looked into the eyes of the woman I love and got all the motivation I needed to carry on without a plan. As we walked down the pier, we stopped at a beautiful spot. With the Chicago Skyline as my backdrop, I confessed my whereabouts on the day I got home from work late. I don’t think she fully understood until I got down on one knee and asked, “will you marry me?” She said yes. But, to think if I had been standing a foot to my left or right in August 2007, we may never have met.

Are you recently engaged or married? Do you know someone else who’s about the head down the aisle? Let us know by messaging us on Facebook or emailing us at hbgotthering@gmail.com.

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