I did a thing… She said, “Yes!”

Over the years, I’ve dated a lot of girls. But ten years ago, I met Sheryl. We met online and our first date was at Panera Bread in Indianapolis, Indiana. I still remember the booth we sat in… I had just started blogging and was working on a post when she arrived. We sat, talked, and decided to have a few drinks. We headed to the Blu Martini, a cocktail bar on 96th street.

After a few martinis, we decided to call it a night. We met in December and I had secured tickets to a masquerade ball for New Year’s Eve. I asked if she would join me. We went and there was an open bar. We were VIP, sat upstairs, and had a range of cocktails. They also had cheese… Lots of cheese. I remember the cheese being pink! Anyway, we had fun and eventually had a few too many to drink.

The next morning we woke up and I suggested we grab something to eat and go see a movie. We went to see “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” She slept through the whole thing, but I really enjoyed the movie. After that we stayed in touch and started dating. Nearly ten years later, here we are…

We celebrated a lot over the years. New jobs, graduations… We’ve had a great relationship. We’ve also traveled the world visiting small villages in Nicaragua, crossing the Great Wall of China, drinking beer in Brussels and kissing on top of Niagara Falls. She also likes craft beer and doesn’t mind me taking an entire Saturday to play golf. After this many years, it’s safe to say I love her.

Over the years she’s found a love for London, England. I really like the city, too. We are working to make it home, but in the meantime we try to visit as often as we can. On our annual beer vacation, this year we visited Dublin, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Islay, Scotland, Belfast, Ireland and London, England. Since we’ve been together for so long, and she loves London, a few months before we left she sent me a message on Facebook, saying, “Wouldn’t it be epic if you proposed to me in London while walking across Tower Bridge at night?” I ignored it. A few weeks later she messaged me with a link to a ring she wanted and her ring size. I ignored it. A few weeks later she messaged me saying she knew I didn’t want to get married and to forget she ever asked. I ignored that message, too.

When we boarded our flight for Dublin, she had no idea what I had in store. We started our journey in Dublin. We visited pubs, drank Guinness and spent some quality time with my good friend Michael Althoff. Michael then drove us to Northern Ireland where we visited more pubs, played golf, saw some iconic locations and enjoyed time together. Then it was off to Islay, Scotland so I could visit Laphroiag Distillery. It was on my bucket list to drink Laphoroaig 10 while at the distillery looking out over the sea. Success! Then it was off to Belfast where I could see where they built Titanic. From there we traveled to London, one of my favorite cities and Sheryl’s favorite place on earth.

While in London we visited several pubs, drank beer, people watched, and toured Warner Bros. Studio where they filmed Harry Potter. We ate at world renowned restaurants and I surprised her with tickets to see Armin van Buuren, her favorite DJ, live at South West Four. What are the chances he would be in London the same weekend we were? Creamfields was also that weekend. After the show we went to dinner and had an awesome meal at The Bull & Last. Then I pressed for us to visit Tower Bridge. We took an Uber there and walked up and down taking pictures. I asked her, “You’ve had quite the day. Harry Potter, you got to see Armin, food, beer… What else do you want to do today?” She smiled and said, “Drink beer?” I responded, “That sounds good. But first, will you marry me?” I pulled out the ring from my pocket, dropped to one knee and proposed. It was absolutely perfect and she had no idea. Even though she asked for it, she was clueless.

As I asked, I started crying. I’m writing this post on the flight home, and while I’m sad to once again be leaving Europe, I’m crying because of this story. I love her so much and when she said yes, I couldn’t control the emotions. In my thirty-five years, I never thought I would be married… But now I’m engaged to my best friend.

After the shock settled, we headed to The Pommelers Rest. We planned on drinking beer but were more focused on changing our Facebook status. Hundreds of reactions and comments came in over the next couple days and I am humbled at the response from my friends and family. I waited thirty-five years for this, and am happy to call Sheryl Hugill my fiancée.

I love her more than anything… It hasn’t always been easy, but we are truly better together. I didn’t plan to write this, but knew I had to express my feelings here. I was blogging when I first met her… It only makes sense I blog about the day I made her mine.

Sheryl, I love you so much… I can’t wait to call you my wife. I got ten years from dating, so I have ten-twelve years before we get married. But when we do, it will be the happiest day of my life. I love you so much, sweetie. So happy to call you mine…