[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/engagement-story-jason-and-michael\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/engagement-story-jason-and-michael\/","headline":"Engagement Story: Jason and Michael","name":"Engagement Story: Jason and Michael","description":"Engagement Story: Jason and Michael","datePublished":"2010-03-22","dateModified":"2021-06-04","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/admin\/#Person","name":"Equally Wed","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/author\/admin\/","identifier":787,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca62cf123aaaf135c80b055249bacbda79de9226e11cdfcde6529bedf89683de?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca62cf123aaaf135c80b055249bacbda79de9226e11cdfcde6529bedf89683de?s=96&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Equally Wed","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","url":"http:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/equally-wed-lgbtq-weddings-logo.jpg","width":218,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/jason-and-michael_large.jpg","url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/jason-and-michael_large.jpg","height":300,"width":289},"url":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/engagement-story-jason-and-michael\/","about":["Engagement"],"wordCount":1210,"articleBody":"Everything\u2019s coming up rosesAfter a long courtship, the big question is poppedBy Jason Dunn It was early November 2003: A lame Christmas party I didn\u2019t even want to go to simply because of the fact that Halloween was just one week before! My friend, Devon, begged me not to make him feel like the loser and attend a party by himself where he only knew the host.Eight months out of a previous relationship, all I wanted to do was stay at home and waste away like the budding drama queen I certainly was. I went, and honestly, I truly believe it was the best decision I made. I walked in and saw him: a 6-feet-5-inches-tall grinning god with dark hair, lean body wearing a black sweater. He would later become known to my annoyed friends as \u201cblack-sweater boy.\u201d I had spent so much of my time looking down that I always forgot to look up. We made eye contact, which never happens with someone I\u2019m instantly attracted to. He was the only one I saw and all I could think about was the embarrassing zit on my face doing a tap dance for him.For an hour or so, I kept trying to build up the courage to talk to him, but couldn\u2019t do it. We\u2019d always seem to inch closer, but that only made the connection awkward. He left with his friends shortly after and I immediately became obsessed. Luckily, I knew someone that knew a friend of a friend of a friend of his (yes, that pathetic). I even went on the Internet to track him down\u2014psychotic much? It wasn\u2019t until I was at a club in Athens with a bunch of friends that I randomly ran into him again two weeks later.My heart literally stopped when he walked in. It nearly shot out of my mouth when I saw him walk up to the guy that was the reason for the ending of my last relationship. I wanted to cry, but like a strong, black and independent woman, I knew I\u2019d move on. As it turned out, the guy that he walked up to had recently dumped him and they were just saying hello. Afterward, the mutual friend introduced us. I was shaking and all I could think about was what it would be like to date this guy \u2026 someone I\u2019d met offline (for a change) and was so intrigued by. It wasn\u2019t long before our first date. I think we both aimed at trying the hard to get scheme, but it wasn\u2019t long before we couldn\u2019t get enough of seeing each other. The first time he held my hand, I pretended to be asleep on the way home from a date. He held it the entire way. I was impressed; I get too fidgety when I drive.It wasn\u2019t too long after that things started to get more serious. We both waited to be in love before we made it official. Our lesbian sisters became best friends, and each one of us became apart of each other\u2019s loving\u2014though sometimes reluctant to understand\u2014families. After five years, our first home and dog together, I knew it was time to pop the question. I had the idea planned for quite some time. The only thing left to do was torture him with the anticipation. Would it come for our five-year anniversary in November? No. Christmas? No. New Year\u2019s? No. Valentine\u2019s Day? Nope! It was the day after Valentine\u2019s Day\u2014a Sunday. Everything was planned accordingly. Knowing how aggravated he was at this point (to my delight), his sister would ask him to go shopping with him, though I was slightly worried, because most lesbians I know are like me when they shop for clothes: in and out the door in 10 minutes. Nevertheless, I knew she\u2019d pull through for me. I picked up the white roses and the 500 tea lights (complete pyro, I know), dug the ring out of my secret hiding spot and prepared my suit. Each of the five roses was in its own vase, which would stand behind a card representing each year we\u2019d been together. Inside each card was a memory we both had shared.It was getting down to it. Michael\u2019s sister called to say he was 20 minutes away. All I had left to do was light the tea lights. Anybody who knows anything about tea lights knows that when you first light them, it takes at least two seconds to light each one because of the wax on the wick\u2014needless to say, I was panicked. I called her back to divert him, where she promptly replied to say get off the phone and F****** light the lights! Things were going great.Luckily for me, his obnoxious exhaust on his truck was loud enough to be a signal for me to get into position. As I lit the last few, I turned to run down the hall to the bedroom and inadvertently blew out eight lights doing so! I had just enough time to hit the play button for my proposal music and relight the blown out lights just as he walked in. After reading each of his cards, he walked down to the end of the hallway leading to our bedroom where a big bouquet of the white roses was sitting by our door with a card in front.It read: \u201cPlease spend the rest of your life with me filling millions of these cards with wonderful memories.\u201d He opened the door, where I knelt with the ring in my hand. It\u2019s easy to say we were both in tears at this point. No need to say what his answer was. \ud83d\ude09 Coming up on seven years in November, I couldn\u2019t feel more blessed. Although I may not be able to remember what he got me for my birthday three years ago, I can still remember that smile he had on his face when I first saw him as if it were yesterday. He\u2019s the only one I know that can put up with me no matter how much of a bad mood I\u2019m in or how much I take him for granted. There is no one else I want to spend the rest of life with, no other black-sweater boy. We\u2019ve had our problems, like every other couple, but they only make us stronger. We finish each other\u2019s sentences. I know when he says two sugars that he actually meant three. He knows that when I say I\u2019m OK that I only need him to tell me everything is going to be all right. I\u2019d give my life for him without thinking about it and would do it again and again.Want to see your proposal story in Equally Wed Magazine? For consideration, send an e-mail briefly outlining the highlights of your story and a snapshot of you two to kpalladino@equallywed.com. Submission of your photos, videos and letters constitutes permission to Palladino Publishing, publisher of Equally Wed Magazine and EquallyWed.com, to use them in all media."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Engagement Story: Jason and Michael","item":"https:\/\/equallywed.com\/engagement-story-jason-and-michael\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]