I would say that after living in Great Falls for three years, I found myself alone and successfully balancing the responsibilities of school and wrestling. Deciding it was time to give dating a shot, I figured online dating was my best option since I had a hard time putting myself out there. What did I have to lose?

On the third day of being online, I started messaging a cute redheaded man named Isaac. I was completely taken with him! We shared common interests, like wrestling and enjoying the outdoors, and messaged each other almost every day. Although I wasn't the best at messaging, I put in extra effort for Isaac in hopes that he would eventually ask me on a date. Meanwhile, Isaac interpreted my messaging style as a lack of interest, thinking I was not as engaged in the conversation as I actually was.

After a few days of chatting, Isaac asked me on a date to McKenzie River Pizza, and I was ecstatic. It had been quite a while since my last date, which had been during my sophomore year of high school, and it had turned out terribly. That week, I practiced doing my hair and picking out the perfect outfit. I was so nervous, especially after hearing horror stories about online dating. I only told my best friend about the date because I wanted to keep my expectations low.

I refrained from snooping on Isaac beforehand because I wanted use both to have a clean slate when we met. On the day of the date, I wanted to ensure my outfit and hair looked good, so I FaceTimed my mom, the most brutally honest person I knows. My mom said I looked amazing, but then began asking questions when I revealed that I was going on a date with a man named Isaac Casey. I told her that I would call after the date.

When Isaac picked me up, I was nervous and pleasantly surprised to find he was even cuter than I had expected. He was extremely sweet, and I was so taken with him that I couldn’t eat my dinner at all. I didn’t want the date to end, and Isaac seemed to feel the same way, as the date lasted five hours.

When I called hmy mom to share how amazing the date had been, my mom, as expected, had snooped on Isaac and informed me that his fighting name was "Crazy Eyes." However, I didn’t care; he had won my heart, and I deleted the dating app after only seven days.

From that day on, we spent all our free time together and quickly became boyfriend and girlfriend. I was nervous about telling Isaac that I would be leaving for the summer to work in Alaska after only a month of dating, but he still wanted to make things work, and we talked every day while I was away. For the first time in three years, I was excited to return to Great Falls. When I came back, nothing had changed between us, and a few weeks later, we declared our love for each other.

After being back in Great Falls for about a month, it was my best friend's birthday, and we decided to celebrate by going to an MSU football game in Bozeman. I invited Isaac to come along with us. About an hour away from Bozeman, the car suddenly lost control, and we were in a terrible accident.

I remembered waking up on my back in a field. The sky was stunningly beautiful. I tried to get up, but my body wouldn't move. When I looked to my left, I saw bones sticking out of my arm. I felt myself growing tired—exhausted—and just stared at the sky. Suddenly, I felt a warm, bright light surrounding me. It felt like someone was reaching out to me. Then I heard a voice in my head say, “If you want this pain to end, all you have to do is take my hand and come with me. But this is what you will miss if you do.”

In that moment, it was like a slideshow in my mind—flashes of my friends, my family, and a vision of my future, surrounded by children I’d have with Isaac. We were happy. Truly happy. After seeing all that, it wasn’t even a choice. I told the voice I was going to stay.

Almost instantly after making that decision, people appeared around me, and then the pain came rushing in—especially when they put the tourniquet on. I remembered asking if someone could get Isaac to hold my hand because I was hurting so badly. They told me he couldn’t come right then—he was busy talking with the emergency responders—but that I’d see him at the hospital.

I spent a few weeks in the hospital, working hard every day to heal so I could get to Billings, where Isaac was. When we were finally reunited, I was stunned to see how badly he had been hurt too. I tried not to cry, especially since I was meeting his family for the first time, but it broke my heart. Being back with Isaac gave me so much motivation to keep pushing through physical therapy. Even though he was hurting, Isaac did everything he could to take care of me. And it was in those moments I realized just how deeply in love I was with him—and that he was the person I wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

When we returned to Great Falls, I stayed in the dorms for a few days, but quickly realized I couldn’t do this without him. That same week, we moved in together. We weren’t anywhere near 100%, but we took amazing care of each other. That summer, Isaac and I explored the state and went camping almost every weekend. With each trip, we grew even closer.

I knew without a doubt that we were meant to be together forever. I found myself hoping he would propose, though I was nervous—it had only been a year, and much of that time we had spent healing, not physically together. I made it clear that I wanted to marry him, but Isaac always brushed it off, saying he loved what we had and didn’t see why we needed to get married.

It wasn’t the answer I wanted, but I loved him deeply and knew he was my forever person. I started preparing myself for the idea that maybe I’d always just be his girlfriend. What I didn’t know was that Isaac was excellent at keeping secrets. He had already started the process of getting my ring and only said those things to throw me off the trail—which absolutely worked.

At the beginning of September, Isaac and I went to one of our favorite camping spot at Holter Lake for a long, hot weekend. Isaac taught me how to swim again, and we spent an amazing day on the lake. During our time together, Isaac often mentioned that he didn't understand why people felt the need to get married to know they would be together forever.

The next day, we decided to go for a hike. We set up the hammock to relax, enjoy some beer, and listen to music, or the old Western book we had started. When we finally reached the top of the mountain and found a good spot to set up the hammock, we were ready for a hydration break. Isaac got us both a beer and then pointed at the mountain in front of us, asking how fast I thought an elk could run up it.

With my back to Isaac and a beer in my hand, I thought about the book we were listening to and asked him how fast he thought an Indian might have been able to run up the mountain back in the day. When I received no response, I turned around and saw Isaac on one knee with a ring in his hand. I was so taken aback that the only thing I could say was "thank you." Isaac didn't seem satisfied with that answer, so I set her beer down, threw myself into his arms, and started crying.

That’s when he asked, “Emily Grace Lorring, will you marry me?” Of course, I said yes! The rest of the weekend, we were absolutely ecstatic, talking about our lives together. I told Isaac how well he had kept the proposal a secret and that I was completely caught off guard. Isaac then told me that all the things he was telling me about marriage was not true. We didn’t tell anyone that weekend; we simply enjoyed our time together as fiancés. We could not be more excited to finally say I do!