Story
Our love story started like any college romance, in a bar.
On June 6, 2013, Ellie and I both went to a birthday celebration for a mutual friend, blissfully unaware of each other's existence. Naturally, that would all change, but little did we know that this one shindig would lead to a lifetime of happiness.
We met amid the usual college party festivities and eventually I got her number through a friend. I asked her on a date and she agreed (reluctantly... thanks for the help Julia). We went out several more times before she left for a study abroad program in South Africa. But even while she was away, we continued to talk and flirt.
When Ellie finally returned after what seemed like forever, we continued the courting and eventually became an "item." She was aware of my military
ambitions and still liked me, so I figured I shouldn't let her go just yet.
Our relationship has been through thick and thin. We’ve been tested by years of distance (across the country as well as the world) and the separation of deployment, but still managed to love each other through it all.
By the time I graduated infantry officers course, I knew I had met the perfect woman and should never let her go. I spent all of the hikes at IOC planning how I would propose to this beautiful woman, and was able to secure her father’s blessing in the midst of it all. Ellie said "yes" when I popped the question on April 14, 2016 while vacationing in Hawaii.
The hope was that the two year engagement would give us time to plan the perfect wedding... and keep her busy through my deployment. And now, it’s all coming together, as we knew it would.
- The Groom