Growing up, I was like a lot of girls. I fantasized about my wedding day since I was in middle school. I’ve had a Pinterest board for it since I was 16. But the way I viewed my wedding changed entirely when I met Zach.
Fast forward from grade school to my freshman year of college. It was the first of October when my friend, Gus, asked me if I wanted to meet his friend who owned a special edition Mach 1 Mustang. I’m a little bit of a car enthusiast, so of course I said yes. Little did I know it would be the beginning of my most wonderful life adventure.
I believe there are two kinds of people in the world. Those who say, “Why wait?” and those who say, “I have all the time in the world.” I am very much the first type.
Many of my friends talk about wanting to wait until they’re out of school or financially stable or a certain age before they even think about getting married. For me, that’s not what marriage is about.
Zach was tall, very handsome and drove a very, very loud muscle car. I had a huge crush on him from the moment we met, even though it wasn’t until the end of that month he really noticed me the way I noticed him.
As the months went by, we got to know each other better. And in December, he asked me to be his girlfriend. We didn’t know it then, but in a matter of just a few months, he and I moved back home and lived three hours away from each other.
After surviving long distant for almost a year, Zach got the chance to move to my hometown to go to trade school! It was the answer to my prayers, I thought. But it only lasted a few months, because after a while, I ended up deciding to return to TTU to finish my degree. I hated more than anything to leave, especially since I was finally living near Zach and we had reached normality. But, in the end, my education means a lot to me, and I really had to go back this fall or wait another year. Since that wasn’t an option, I moved back to good ole' Cookeville, alone.
Through the months Zach and I dated long distant, there were many late night phone calls and FaceTime calls. I always like to talk about our future, because for the first time in my life, I am confident in my future. We would dream out loud about getting married and having a little farm and how many classic cars we would have in our garage. It always makes my heart smile to dream about life with him. We had talked about it for months, that we wanted to get married one day. And even though I was anxious to get engaged, as a lot of girls would be, I didn’t expect it to happen when it did.
It was my last day in town before I moved. Zach had surprised me and had taken off work that day to spend it with me. He told me we were going on a drive, but I didn’t know where. He took me to Rock Island, which is my favorite state park, not far from Cookeville. It was pouring rain but we drove through the park and saw the waterfall anyway.
We didn’t stay long, which I didn’t know why. He then took me to dinner in Cookeville before going on another drive, through Cookeville’s backroads, like we used to do our freshman year. It was almost sunset and we were still driving around, seemingly aimlessly. But we came to a stop at the lake where we celebrated our first Valentine’s Day. We parked the car and Zach suggested we get out. I got out and he took forever to get out too, claiming to be taking a picture of me through the windshield. Later I found out, he was fishing the ring box out from under his seat. We walked around and talked about life for a while and it began to get dark, so I suggested we go back to my apartment before we leave to go back home. I began to walk back to his Mustang and I noticed he wasn’t walking beside me. I turned around, and he was on one knee. It was the last thing I expected in that moment, but it was exactly what I needed.
Zach and my relationship has been a roller coaster since day one. In the past nearly-two-years, Zach and I have grown so much, not just together, but also as individuals. I didn’t used to believe in soulmates, but I know in my heart God made him for me, and me for him. He is my better half, and I can’t imagine my life without him. I don’t want to wait and graduate and get a job and become “financially stable” on my own and be 27 before I get married! I want to do life with him, always. I believe if you love someone, why in the world would you want to wait?
