We’re getting married.

We met at a Conversation Party/ Mix and Mingle event. A conversation party is a social function that provokes dialog on relationship, dating, and social topics. This was held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. I was hesitant about going and needed some persuading from my friend Lauren and her husband Miguel. She said, “go you never know who you might meet”, so I met up with some friends and went. Coincidently, Antuan happened to be staying at that same hotel. He was a facilitator at a football camp that weekend. While walking through the hotel lobby, he and his cousin didn’t know anything about the event, they saw a crowd gathering and decided to check it out. He arrived after the conversation segment ended and joined the mix and mingle. I had an early flight the next day and motioned to the girls that it was time for me to leave. Moments later, Antuan approached me and asked for a dance. Apparently, he had been dancing for quite some time beside me trying to get my attention. His cousin warned him if he approached me he may get shot down with a shot gun or a pistol. He swears I was mean mugging the crowd and he figured I had to be a cop or in the military. I politely declined the dance. He asked for my number to continue our conversation. I suggested we exchanged IG names instead. This way we could get a snapshot of each other then, message each other if we were still interested (lame right). It worked! A year later, Antuan and I took a road trip across country from CA to MD solidifying our relationship. We relocated to the east coast, which was difficult but an easy decision to make for love.

After my 3rd day of working 12hr shifts, Antuan insisted on taking me to dinner after work. I really didn’t feel like going out, because it was Mother’s Day and I was extremely tired. Knowing that he lost his mom at a young age and that this day was particularly hard for him I agreed to meet him at a restaurant directly after work for dessert. He was already seated facing the door which is usually how I sit. Shortly, after we sat down he got up suddenly. I stopped him and asked, “where are you going”. He said, “to the restroom”. I thought it was odd that he would just get up and walk away without mentioning going to the restroom. I was on the fence about getting a particular drink so the waitress said she could bring me out a flight to sample. I was thinking this is great. I get literally free drinks. He even got a free meal. This dinner is going great! Now, knowing how frugal I am, I was super excited to get drinks now a full meal on the house. Wait, is this my birthday??? Then it happened. Imagine how surprised I was when he got down on one knee at the table. My family popped out of nowhere. He made a once sad day for him into one of the happiest and most memorable for us. I said YES!