We went to the Florida Keys with my family (Paige’s) for fall break. The Florida Keys is a very special place to me. In March of 2023, I lost a very important person to me. I lost my Uncle Tom, he had a hard fight with battling cancer for a short time. If you knew me, you knew my Uncle Tom. So this trip was just a special trip with my family since this was a place Uncle Tom had brought me multiple times or would go to every year.
We were the crazy people that went to Florida during hurricane Milton. We were going to stay and wait out the storm. We went to Key West for a day on October 7 to do all the tourist things. We had lunch at the Southern Most Cafe and right next to the cafe is the Southern Most Hotel (these are two places we would eat and stay at when we would go with Uncle Tom). While we were having lunch, it came a monsoon of a rain storm and rained for I think over an hour! Right beside the cafe is a little pier that everyone walks out on to get pictures. The waves were coming OVER the pier and the wind was getting up and the rain was coming in harder. So we just sat and waited for the rain to stop before we were leaving. I was also determined for us to go out on this pier for pictures since we had taken pictures on that pier with Uncle Tom.
It finally stops raining so we decide we better hurry before it rains again to go out there and take pictures. Little did I know this place was going to mean more to me and my life was about to change FOR EVER!!
I take a picture with Faith and Matt, Peyton comes up and says “let’s walk out a little further”. I thought to myself “this guy is crazy wanting to walk out further on this pier as the waves were coming up on the pier”. And then it hit me… he was PROPOSING! Next, he gets down on one knee and pulls the most beautiful ring out. How he didn’t drop that ring, I will never know! I couldn’t stop smiling when I looked at my family!

Peyton knew this place was special to me and it is even more special to me now. Uncle Tom got to meet Peyton one time and in that one time he met him, he knew Peyton was something special and knew he would complete our family.