Today is our 9th Wedding Anniversary! I am so incredibly fortunate to have married the most wonderful, patient and loving woman. If you know me at all, you know how lucky I am!
We were engaged 10 years ago yesterday, ironically. Elizabeth and I were both staff photographers at The Evansville Courier & Press, where we both were hired out of college. We are so fortunate to be able to tell stories about weddings with our photographs but below is the story of our engagement in words. I proposed to Elizabeth in a column in the newspaper. To say she was surprised would be an understatement, along with the 75 thousand or so reading it in the newspaper that morning. There is the actual newspaper version and a typed out version that is easier to read below. Here is the story of how we met.
Jan 8, 1999
I had no clue how special this day would become.
It was the beginning of the winter quarter at Ohio University when a couple of friends invited me to a party.
After a long day of classes and photographing a hockey game that evening, I walked a a few blocks in the pouring rain to get there. I was exhausted, and more than once I wondered why I was still going. After all, there are hundreds of parties during college.
About a minute after I walked in the door, I realized why I was supposed to be there.
I began making my way through the crowd when my friend Shannon grabbed my arm and told me that she had someone she wanted me to meet……..Elizabeth…..I’ll never forget that moment Shannon introduced me to Elizabeth. I asked her how she was doing, and through an incredible smile, Elizabeth replied, ” Great.”
We looked at each other for a few moments and I thought to myself that I wanted to go someplace else….Anywhere else….And find out all about her.
But I was too cool for that. I had to go make the rounds and talk to my other friends at the party.
We passed each other a few times but I didn’t have the guts to start a conversation. I kept thinking to myself that I was at this great party with all my friends and all I could think about was Elizabeth, this girl who amazed me with just one smile.
There was one problem. I looked up and saw her dancing with some other guy. I don’t know how quick a heart can sink, but mine probably broke a world record at that moment. I was horrified at the thought that she probably had a boyfriend.
As the party continued, I just happened to notice this guy was hanging around her but she didn’t seem very interested.
It was also hard to ignore the smile she gave me while a group of us sat down for a drink.
I didn’t hesitate starting a conversation with Elizabeth the next time. It seemed like we joked and laughed from the start.
Luckily, it turned out that the other guy wasn’t her boyfriend.
In the short time between then and when the party ended, Elizabeth and I were acting like we had known each other for years.
To be honest, I thought about her every minute that next day. I kept hoping that she felt the same way.
Before I could even call her that evening, Shannon called to invite me out with her and Elizabeth that night. Again, I was dead tired, but how could I pass up the opportunity to see Elizabeth again?
The five-minute walk to the bar where Shannon and Elizabeth waited for me took about 30 seconds that time. I couldn’t wait to see her.
I confidently strolled into the bar. I flashed my license to the bouncers, paid the cover and looked up. I saw Shannon, but not Elizabeth. I didn’t want to be so rude as to ask where Elizabeth was before saying hello, but I’m pretty sure I did.
As Shannon was about to answer, I looked up and saw Elizabeth walking right toward me, looking even more beautiful than she did the night before.
We’ve been together ever since. The past Two years, 3 months have been the greatest of my life because of her.
I remember her telling me a few days after we met that before going to that first party she told her friends that she was going to meet the man she would marry that night.
I hope she did.
Elizabeth, will you marry me?
