On August 26th 2017, Deidre Richardson (one of our Best Women), called me to place an order for some Hennessey cookies and cupcakes that I had made. She wanted them for her brother's birthday. At the time Dee and I were living in the same apartment building, so I delivered the treats to her where the birthday boy was waiting. He had clearly started celebrating early that day, so being shy was definitely not an option for him. He was funny and very flirty. I had already heard about him, more than I probably should have, and nothing about it sparked my interest. So with every advance he made my reply was "NO!", "no thank you!", or "I'm good!" But he refused to take no for an answer and before we parted ways he assured me I would be his. All I could do was laugh, because this guy didn't even know me. I even said, I would NEVER! (who knew later on I would be eating those words, lol)

Every day after our first meeting Eric would inbox me a Good Morning message on Facebook calling me his girlfriend and then his wife. I still just found him to be funny, weird, but very funny. We stayed in contact every day with simple good morning messages and asking about each other's day. We were both in very complicated situations and it just felt good to have a friend to talk to. Someone that understood exactly what you were feeling. Someone who could make you laugh when you needed it. Someone who lifted the weight off your shoulders, even if it was only for a second.

On December 15th, 2017, the sister's of Sache' had a Christmas sweater party, that Eric and I both attended. And despite everything that was going on around us, we were able to have a real conversation. This was the Eric that I became interested in getting to know a little better. So that's what I did. Each day I learned a little more, each week we spent a little more time together, and each month we got a little bit closer. And I'm happy to admit that the guy I heard about vs the guy that I've grown to love and know, are 2 totally different people. Now we don't know when we became girlfriend and boyfriend, but on October 2, 2019 while on our cruise, is when I became his fiance'. No big spectacle was made, just something simple and straight to the point. That was all I wanted and needed. It wasn't the size of the announcement that mattered, but the size of the commitment! And now on August 12th, 2022, together with our friends and family we'll stand side by side and celebrate our union as husband and wife!