The Beginning

It all started freshman year at Auburn High School when a 14-year-old Myles Burke glanced over to see a black-haired girl just filled with teenage angst, it was Mr. Lajoie's "human development" class. Of course this may be the first time he saw me but it most certainly was not the first time I saw him. I had scoped him out a few times outside McDonald's where all the "cool kids" smoked their morning cigarettes before classes started. It was that first conversational starter about the bands on my trapper keeper that would ultimately blossom into an incredible friendship and in turn develop into a loving relationship between two people. Of course throughout this friendship we were constantly teased by our closest friends about how much we "loved" each other. In fact, it was Leah that jokingly bought Myles a rose on Valentine's Day in high school just so she could write in the message, "You love Shannon!" The timing was never perfect for us; it finally took years for us to realize that what we were looking for in other people we had already found it in each other. After dating for about a year Myles was accepted to Savannah College of Art & Design, which meant he was moving to Savannah. After all these years of playing cat and mouse with each other a decision had to be made and for me it was an easy one, looks like this Yankee was moving down south!

The Proposal

After living in the north your entire life, Savannah can be extremely intimidating but if you're going through this culture shock with the love of your life it tends to become a little easier. Our friends Lena and April were graduating from South University in Tampa so we went to cheer them on, little did I know we would be driving back home to Savannah engaged to be married! Myles was acting so weird and I just couldn't put my finger on it, if you've known somebody for over a decade you tend to become familiar with his or her body language. After the commencement we all went out to eat in St. Petersburg. I remember thinking this is so great that all of us friends are finally together again! It was close to Christmas so there were lights dangling from the trees and the ocean was lit with the moons bursting light. Myles took me for a walk through the dim lit pathways while the girls eagerly trailed behind, and at this point I thought, "okay now they're acting weird.." We stopped for a moment and I instantly knew, he got down on one knee and I started to cry, I'm pretty sure I didn't stop until two or three hours later. I felt every single emotion; every feeling that I have ever felt for Myles ran through me and in that moment I can say with the utmost confidence that was in fact the happiest moment of my entire life!