Berk's Version

The Beginning

The year was 2019. We first met, like so many others, at the Chamblee Boys and Girls Club Basketball Court. I was playing in a Men’s basketball league, while Maggie was working at Atlanta Sports and Social at the prestigious position of Scoreboard Keeper.

Our team managed to make the playoffs despite the substantial size differential between our team and the remaining teams. While we were getting trounced in the playoff game, Maggie took note of our unselfish play style and was intrigued. After the game ended, our team was discussing if it was worth playing another season. At that very moment, Maggie came up to our group and asked us if we would play in a Co-Ed league together. We didn’t give an answer at the time but exchanged emails. Later that day we agreed to form a co-ed team.

We then played basketball for several months together, building what some would say was a solid friendship. Early in 2020, I was playing basketball with our common basketball friend, Lizzie. She then proceeded to tell me that Maggie was interested in me and that I should pursue a relationship. A week later we went on our first date on Feb 8, 2020. A month later, the world shut down.

The Middle

Maggie lived in Decatur. Skips Hotdogs is in Decatur. It was the third, or maybe the fourth date, I don't remember, but when Maggie suggested to go to Skips Hotdogs for dinner, I knew something was up. During this date, I found out that Maggie loves hotdogs. This was very fortunate, as I didn’t think someone else would enjoy the hot dog as much as myself.

We then went on many more dates, eventually turning our dates into a weekly date night and spent every weekend together too. We went on many adventures, such as going to most of the public pianos in Atlanta or driving to Knoxville for a weekend. After much great time spent together, I knew the inevitable was imminent.

The Proposal

The proposal occurred on Maggie’s Birthday, August 17, 2023. I took the day off (in surprise fashion) and arrived with birthday gifts. Then in the afternoon, I took Maggie to the first basketball court where we practiced together. I thought it would be romantic.

After casually playing basketball for a brief time (and crushing her in Horse), we walked in the park to a nearby Gazebo and proposed. She had no idea what I said, and I have no idea what I said, but she said Yes.

Maggie's Version

How we met

In 2019, about a year after I moved to Atlanta, I started working a part-time job as a basketball scorekeeper with Atlanta Sport and Social Club (the adult sports league for the city). As a scorekeeper, I also got to play in the leagues for free. Although, I was not having the best luck with my teammates, as I kept getting put on teams with guys that wouldn’t pass the ball or couldn’t be bothered to even show up to games.

That was until a fateful August day when I first laid eyes on Berk and his rag tag group of pals from Georgia Tech. Let’s just say at first glance, this team looked like they should be in the library or playing video games instead of balling out. Nonetheless, they were really good and I LOVED watching them play, especially Berk. After a disappointing loss in one of their playoff games, I got up the courage to ask them to play in a co-ed league with me. To that request, I was met with the most awkward silence. In my best effort to recover from the uncomfortable exchange, I passed along my email address and thought “well, that was a bust.”

However, when I got home that night after scorekeeping I was pleasantly surprised to see a “sign us up!” awaiting me in my inbox.

How we started dating

After a few months of playing on the same team and scoring an invite to play pickup at Georgia Tech with the guys, I started crushing hard on Berk. I tried to gauge interest from him to no major avail and decided that, if I wanted to get to know this guy better, action had to be taken. Despite how emboldened I was feeling though, I only had a middle school level of bravery and thus enlisted my best basketball buddy, Lizzie, to find out if Berk was interested in me.

Lizzie was both the best and the worst person to put up to this because, instead of gauging interest like I asked, she basically demanded that Berk ask me out. When I asked her how it went, she said, well he was speechless. After a painful week of knowing he knew and nothing happening, I almost gave up until he called me to ask me out. I could tell he was so nervous, but I was thrilled at the opportunity to get to know him better. I also adopted my cat Aladdin the day of our first date, you know, in case things didn’t work out.

How he proposed

Berk and I spent the next three and a half years surviving a global pandemic, playing a lot of basketball, eating many hot dogs, losing at lots of trivia nights, breaking/dislocating a few bones and falling in love.

On August 17th, 2023, my 29th birthday, Berk showed up at my house excited and ready to celebrate. However, I knew something was up because he was wearing his purple Atlanta Sport and Social Club t-shirt i.e. the one he had on that day I asked him to be on my team. After showering me with birthday gifts and cake, we went out to lunch and then Berk said he had a surprise for me.

Surprises are not Berk’s thing and plans are my thing so this was an agonizing 30 minute car ride. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going as we drove deeper into the suburb of Brookhaven. I started to realize that we were going to Lynwood Park, the place where Berk and I first played basketball together. While it was a lovely day and a fun place to go, I was slightly annoyed because I had no basketball clothes or shoes with me. Berk said, “let’s just shoot around.”

After he kicked my butt at horse (again, I didn’t have the right shoes on), we walked around the park and stopped to sit in a gazebo. It was here that Berk got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I enthusiastically said yes, so long as a rematch in horse was on the table.