I met Gabby my Sophomore year at Campbell. I had no clue that almost 4 years later she would be the love of my life. Me and Gabby became really good friends throughout her rest of our time at Campbell. By the end of senior year she was one of my best friends. I always loved our long talks throughout the day or enjoying some food from Bojangles when we would skip class.

When I graduated I was afraid that I would lose connection with my friends but Gabby was determined to not let that happen. She told me before I headed back home that she wasn’t going to let me “ghost her.” She made sure that we kept in contact even if it was just through Snapchat.

Gabby would come to Charlotte some weekends to see some of her friends and would always invite me to come but me being the homebody I am would always come up with an excuse. This did not discourage her she continued to invite me until she finally was able to get me to come out.

I ended up going to her birthday party which she had in Charlotte just so I would come and little did I know that my life would never be the same after that. That night we both finally opened up that we had feelings for each other.

I did not know what would happen with us moving forward at that moment but it felt special. Things started to move fast from the point we were dating 2 weeks later and we quickly fell in love. I have never had someone in my life that I could not stand being apart from. I knew early on that I was going to marry Gabby someday. As our relationship was progressing I decided in August that I did not want to wait any longer to propose to her. I knew we both felt the same way and there was no point in delaying it.

I started trying to plan the proposal. The first step was getting the ring. Gabby almost caught me when I bought the ring and I had to convince her I was unable to afford anything and was just trying to get a good idea of how much I needed to save.

The next step was the proposal itself. I researched for a while trying to find the perfect place to do it and determined the Grand Bohemian would be a great choice. I headed over to the hotel and had a look around and it was perfect for what I wanted to do.

On the day of the proposal I was very nervous. I wanted everything to be perfect. On our way to the Grand Bohemian Gabby made the comment that she thought for a second that I might propose today but she convinced herself that she was just being crazy.

Gabby saying yes is the happiest moment of my life. She has brought a new joy into my life I never thought I would have. She is the most kind, loving, and considerate woman in the world. I am lucky to have to have her and I do not deserve her. I cannot wait to go through life with her by my side.

- Garrett