A story 11 years in the making, that's right, 11 years since I walked into the infamous restaurant 101 Cantina my first year at the University of Florida and set my eyes on the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Naturally, I was overly eager to discover this woman's life story. Fortunately, we had a great conversation. Unfortunately, the conversation shifted when she told me she had a boyfriend. Undeterred but that fact, every opportunity my teammates and myself chose to frequent 101 Cantina (and we did frequent quite frequently), I was hopeful of continuing to ensure that Whitney had my attention and that I was right there when she needed me. After some time, Whitney broke up with her boyfriend and gave me the privilege of being her rebound.

About two weeks into Whitney and I spending time together, she found out that Kyla was on the way. This news halted our situationship, but we continued to be friends as she navigated this massive life change.

Although, throughout the years, Whitney and I would stay in touch from time to time, in my heart, I felt as though there wasn't any closure in our relationship, so I couldn't entirely let her go. Whitney finished school with the help of her amazing grandmother Lois Carrol who lived with her and nannied Kyla, then moved back to Nebraska. I then went on to play basketball overseas.

In 2018 when I was in Atlanta rehabbing my knee in hopes of returning to basketball, Whitney came to visit me for a few days. Her visit started well but ended terribly after I was still non-committal on what we were doing and where we were going as a couple. To fully grasp the severity of my immaturity in the summer of 2018, let me say that Whitney and I did not speak again until May of 2021.

When I reached back out to Whitney in May of 2021, I went with the old-fashioned route. Facebook messenger. In 3 years, I finally realized that Whitney was all I ever wanted and needed in my life. Of course, she was a little skeptical when I began pursuing her again, but this time all the eggs were in one basket, there was no turning back, and as you can see.... she said yes!!!