We met working at a poker room in Gretna, Florida. Taylor, the one writing all of this, worked as a designated player, and Cayle, the one reading all of this, was (and still is) a dealer. After months of sitting in absolute silence at completely empty tables, something started to develop. After a short friendship, I politely cornered Cayle, handing him a pack of gum with my number not so subtly hidden it. The rest, as they say, is history.

On our anniversary, Cayle woke me up at the actual crack of dawn, got me dressed and put me in his car, and didn't tell me where we were going. He let me sleep for about an hour, and then I picked out a movie and it played in the background while he drove us to our unknown destination. It was only when we were driving through the outskirts of Atlanta that he asked if I knew where we were going. Atlanta, as it turns out, was not the right answer. The right answer was to the Georgia Aquarium, a place I'd dreamed about going ever since I learned that they were the only place in the north Americas where one could see a whale shark. Whale sharks have always been one of my favorite animals, and I never dreamed I'd get to see one up close. The excitement in me built to a fever pitch as we ate breakfast, and I could barely contain myself as we actually walked in the doors to the aquarium. I had no idea things were going to get even better. Gentleman that he is, Cayle let me pick which exhibit I wanted to go to first. After years of waiting, of course I dragged him to the whale sharks. There was a window right inside their exhibit, where you could sit and see them swim past, so close you could almost touch them. We sat on the bench there, watching the whale sharks glide past. I gasped every time one swam by us, and Cayle smiled at my obvious joy. Then he placed something in my hand. I looked down, and saw a wooden box. It was carved and beautiful, with "Always and Forever" engraved on the top. I looked at him and then opened it, and inside was a ring, engraved with the mask of a character from a movie that means so much to both of us. And in that moment, with the whale sharks gliding past us, the only witnesses to our private moment, our lives changed forever.