We're Married!

By: Jacob Hollis with commentary by Samantha Peña () Sam and I had known at least of each other since 2013. We were both in the theatre department at Sharyland High School and were in Footloose together. When our schools split, we lost all means of staying in touch. For the next eight years, it would be, “Oh, Jake? I know him.” or “Oh, Sam? I know her. How’s she doing?” (I did not know Jake all that well, and I am not even sure if we were ever properly introduced, but for some reason, I always remembered him. I do not think that was a coincidence!) Funnily enough, although we both ended up at Baylor University, the Lord still had his reasons for delaying our relationship. We ran into each other once in the science building, and that was it. After that, our lives took us in different directions. Sam graduated and went to Cleveland for her master's degree while I bounced around from school to school, trying to find my direction in life. It wasn’t until 2020 that we began to catch up on and off through social media. My feelings for her began around the fall of 2021. (Is’t he so cute?!) I’d always thought she was cute, but the more we talked and began to know each other, “she’s cute” became “she’s beautiful,” which, in turn, became “I want to ask her out.” My men’s Bible study at Baylor decided to give up social media and the like at the beginning of 2022 until Easter Sunday. I took this time to make an innocuous post asking people to DM me for my number if they wanted to stay in touch. The bait worked, and Sam responded. Granted, she will say she was just being nice and friendly, but Dear Reader, you and I both know that she is just trying to keep my pride in check. (I was just being friendly!) For the first quarter of 2022, Sam and I moved from small-talk text messages to phone calls between classes to FaceTime. It was amazing to see how our friendship blossomed. During my visit to Franciscan University in March 2022, I FaceTimed Sam at the Mr. Rogers statue in Pittsburgh and asked her if she would be willing to go out on a date with me. She chuckled and said yes. (I was in the middle of walking Murphy and I was so flattered. I wasn’t sure where things would lead.) We moved the date up from the summer (he couldn’t wait to ask me out people!) to the Easter break when I’d next be in town. In the span of one weekend, we went on our first date, I met her entire family, and we decided on a hammock in Bannworth Park to become boyfriend and girlfriend. We had our first kiss on that hammock—now we’re about to get married!

We will go into the proposal story here, but if you are not a reader, rest assured because featured above is the touching video of the epic day! Jacob: Since I was sick at the time we were going to celebrate our 1-year anniversary, I decided to propose the day we rescheduled our 1-year anniversary date. Samantha: He later told me he wanted to wait until the feast of our patron saints, Sts. Louis & Zelie Martin. He was going to make me wait until July 12! Blessings, he did not make me wait that long, and instead, we were able to get our engagement blessed on July 12. Jacob: My family began to travel down & we tried to hide the fact. Caleb & Lauren were in town along with my Mimi. Sam had her suspicions, but I didn't know. Her family and I decided to plan a mock photoshoot that day as a cover for her to have her hair and makeup done. We went and took photos with my mom and got coffee afterward. I had the ring and was getting fairly nervous. We went to Reserva off Ware, and I gave her my 1-year anniversary gift - a board containing 12 reasons why I love her. Being super nervous, I couldn't eat or drink anything. From there, we went to Mass at OLS. I freaked out that the ring might get stolen from my car, so I went and grabbed it and then joined Sam in the pew. As we held each other during Mass, I prayed and asked Our Lady to guide me, St. Joseph to strengthen me, and Our Lord for His Will. At Communion, I felt a calming presence that effectively told me: "Love Me through her." After Mass, I knelt before Our Lady & renewed my consecration to her. I was careful to make sure Sam didn't notice any ring-shaped bump in my back pocket. Samantha: Of course, I didn't notice! I wasn't looking at Jake's butt. While my Jacob prayed, I asked Our Lady to be with us and asked her to help me be in the moment. I had this undescribable hunch Jacob was going to propose, and I am glad I did because it allowed me to take every moment in our last week as simply bf/gf. After Mass, we drove to MCC. On the way there, he asked to hold my hand like on our first date (so cute!). When we got there, he took me by the hand and led me to the hill on the golf course, where we first danced on our first date. He led me rather quickly, which I later discovered was because "we were late" for our stalkers... I mean, watchparty! My heart was screaming!! My mind raced between, "This is it!" and "Oh no, it isn't." Jake took my hands, and we danced. With every twirl and kind word Jake spoke, my heart raced. Jacob began to kneel, and I held my breath with tears welling in my eyes. He then got up, making me think he was pranking me, but I later learned the ring got stuck! Jacob called me by my full name, said some beautiful words, and asked me to marry him. I wanted to respond with something equally beautiful, but I was speechless! I nodded yes. Jacob asked me again, and I responded, "Yes, you silly goose!" We hugged, and I gave him a big ole kiss. Both our hands were shaking as he placed the ring on my finger. Jake then gave a big thumbs up, and our family and friends came flooding out of MCC, where they had a whole party set up! I am engaged to my best friend, the man of my dreams! Jacob: My heart received everything it wanted in that moment. We are immensely excited to celebrate this next chapter in our lives with you. See you in Houston!