Our Story

"Every Love Story Is Beautiful... But Ours Is My Favorite"

Brittany's Story

For me, our story is one completely hinged on the fact that immediately upon spending time with him, somewhere deep within my spirit, I knew that William was the one for me.

I accredit my dog, Crimson, with the reason why William and I finally met. I say "finally" because a mutual friend had long raved about what an amazing person William was for a year prior to my meeting him in person. I'm pretty sure that her intentions were not ever to formally "set us up"and that she instead was very taken by the kind, gentlemanly spirit that William possesses.

One weekend in July 2013, I was heading to Washington, D.C. for my Sorority's Centennial Celebration. This mutual friend always offered to watch Crimson on my many travels but I never obliged. Thankfully I did this one time! As fate would have it, sitting on her couch when I returned from Washington, D.C. to pick up Crimson was William. As if fate wasn't enough, coincidentally, on this very weekend that I flew from Bentonville to attend my Sorority's Centennial Celebration in D.C., he had flown from his home in D.C. to visit his family in Bentonville.

Not much of anything transpired while we were both seated in her living room. We engaged in pleasantries and I don't really have any memorable engages from that technical first encounter. I packed Crimson up, we all walked out and went our separate ways. Some days later, while attending one of many local happy hours, a familiar face approached me; but, I could not remember his name and knew that I should! What I did know is that he felt so familiar. Familiar beyond sharing the same couch for those brief 10 minutes some days before but for a reason I would not know at that time.

After learning that he was at the happy hour solo, I invited him to sit with my friends and me at our table. We spent that evening chatting as a group and when it was time to leave, William invited me to dinner and to play poker at his mother's home. Never having played poker in my life, I accepted the invitation.

We had a pleasant evening playing poker. I remember his mother's patience as she taught me the game and forgave my many mistakes. I remember his brother FaceTiming into the dinner, while his then fiance (now wife) and her young daughter sat around the dinner table and we all engaged in an evening of great conversation. Libations continued to flow and as a result, I had to be driven home.

William picked me up the next afternoon to take me back to my car. During this car ride, we had an exchange that left me speechless. I do not recall what exactly preceded this climatic moment, whether I was just telling a story from memory or if a text message came across my phone in real time. Nonetheless, something had me really up in arms and I reacted very demonstratively and loudly. William approached a stoplight, calmly turned to me in the passenger seat, and said something along the lines of "Calm down". But even in his very tactful choice of words, the energy surrounding his statement felt every bit of "Sit down and shut up". For anyone reading this who is team #Bride and knows me, let's just say William is the only man to have survived such a demand.

It is hard to put into words how eerie of a feeling I had in that moment. Knowing what I know now, I knew in that moment that he was my one. This knowledge would lie dormant for 2 years to come as we fostered an amazing friendship and as life took its time to prepare us for one another.

My love, William, it was indeed always you.

William's Story

Crimson. Little did we know that a Bichon Frise would be the linchpin in our fortuitous meeting. Some 5 years ago, I was in Arkansas to visit family and Brittany was in the District of Columbia to attend her Sorority's Centennial Celebration. Upon her return to Arkansas we found ourselves crossing paths at a mutual friend's house who was dog sitting. Now in all honesty, it wasn’t until our second meeting at Grubb’s, a local bar, that she really caught my attention. (Of course I noticed her beauty the first time, but never did I expect to see her again.) At Grubb's, I had an opportunity to see her true personality shine. Brittany was funny, straight forward, and smart. I loved talking with her. We didn’t always agree on our point of view but we sure did have some interesting conversation. At the end of the night, we exchanged numbers and continued to speak from time to time.

When I returned to D.C., Brittany and I called each other every three to four months just to check-in. Our conversations would unintentionally last for hours. These three to four month gaps were a normal cadence for my long distance friendships. It wasn't until "The Call" that I realized that this was not "the norm" shared by my future wife, her family, or her friends. During "The Call", Brittany explained how she enjoyed talking to me but normally spoke with those she cared about on a more frequent basis, and in order to remain in her life, she would need to hear from me more often. At the end of that conversation, I started contemplating our relationship. Why did she care so much? Why did I care so much? We were just quarterly friends, right?

After "The Call", quarterly check-ins became a thing of the past and we began a new daily routine. These daily phone calls lasted hours. This was so different than anything I had ever experienced. For almost six months, we spoke everyday until she called and let me know her sister Amber's birthday was coming up and we arranged to drive from DC to Boston to visit her. It had been years since I had seen Brittany but when she stepped out of the Uber, I felt a rush of excitement. Later that night, I would take her to dinner at Bond 45 on The National Harbor and for a ride on a Ferris wheel; simple and sweet.

The next day, we left D.C. and made our way to NY, where we met up with friends and family, walked the Brooklyn bridge, and eventually shared our first kiss. From New York, we continued our journey to Boston College to surprise her sister Amber for her 21st Birthday. Oh boy, was it a surprise. For any one that knows Amber, she wears her heart on her sleeve. When we arrived, poor Amber almost fell to her knees from the shock of seeing her sister; however, the shock of a strange man in the door way prompted her to maintain her composure and ask, "Who is this man, Brittany?", to which Brittany responded, "My friend, William." That evening, we all had a blast celebrating Amber's birthday.

A few more months passed and we continued to talk everyday until we found ourselves in the month of October. The Million Man March was coming up and we had planned a visit around it. On the day of the March, I told Brittany that she was my girlfriend, just to make sure we were clear on our relationship status and for some silly reason, she felt that I needed to ask her. Go figure! Now she knew, and I knew, that it was true but she insisted on me formally asking her. So, two days later I asked her, "Would you be my girlfriend?", she smiled and said "Yes".