God has a perfect way of aligning the stars just right! We've known of each other since we were kids growing up in the same apartment building during the 90s and early 2000s. Yet, even while being in such close proximity for over 10 years, we never formally met or spoke to each other. During the summer of 2003, I was on my way to take out the last bag of trash from packing for college. I walked out of the building and ran into Pete sitting on the front steps. Always a gentleman, he took my trash to the dumpster and we spoke for the first time ever! It was fun explaining that my sister never gave me any of his messages. We talked about our families, friends, and living in the same building for so long but never actually having any time alone to really talk. It was clear that we wanted to continue our time together in the future but I was moving to North Carolina in the morning. Cue Erykah Badu’s infamous lyrics, “I guess I'll see ya next lifetime….” Fall 2005 One late evening I was walking home from one of the longest days at work. A neighbor noticed me alone and decided to see me home safely. I typically always stay out of dark alleys but I decided to take the shortcut home since I now had company. As I turned the corner to walk through the alley, I was stopped in my tracks with a black Chevy suburban truck throwing on the brakes to avoid hitting me. Quickly the window rolled down, the music’s volume lowered, and I heard, “I'm sorry, you good?" I looked over and saw that it was Pete behind the wheel! With excitement, he then says “Kelly’s sister”! To which I bubbly replied “ Yup, Ivory”! Instantly, we are cheesy grinning at each other in disbelief. I took his number and after calling him about 3 times that week with no answer, I left a message. Pete called me that night and it's been us ever since. Alignment.

Let's go to a place only lovers go, to a spot that we've never known. From the day we reconnected I knew Ivory was going to be my wife and the mother of our children. Everything about her and I together has always felt right. I’ve never really experienced a love, friendship, or life with anyone else the way I have with her. She's introduced me to new experiences I would have never considered on my own. And when it comes to caring for our girls, Mallorie and Madison, she's more than what I imagined her to be as a mother. I've been waiting three years for the perfect moment to propose to Ivory, but life has a way of postponing plans. I deeply felt the need to stop waiting for the perfect moment and instead create it. We've been holding each other down for 15 years now and it’s time! I decided that Christmas 2020 should be one to forever remember. Ivory loves flowers so for about eight weeks, I showered her with dozens of roses and other floral arrangements. But it was around the fourth week of flowers, she raised her brow in suspicion at me and most likely, that’s when she started surveying her close friends. In the meantime, I made plans with her mom, dad, and sister to meet-up over my aunt’s house during Christmas dinner. Proposal Day... We woke up Christmas morning with the girls. Ivory cooked breakfast and we opened gifts. I began to get my thoughts together in a shower while Ivory proceeded to do her makeup live on Instagram for two hours. This gave me lots of time to prepare and falsely blame her for why we were running late for Christmas dinner at my aunt’s house. When we arrived at dinner, Ivory opened the door, and walked into my family setup as if we were late for dinner and gifts were now being exchanged and opened. Ivory took her seat in the living room but before she could get good and comfortable, I loudly called for the attention of the room, spoke my heart, kneeled on one knee, and asked her to marry me! With tears in her eyes she said “YES!”