I met Suzy on my first day at Duke University — which also happened to be the day the football team broke their three year losing streak. Everyone knows Duke is known for their basketball, but not their football. At the end of the game, we rushed the field which required us to jump down from the stands onto the field level — an 8 foot drop. I jumped first and had Suzy jump into my arms. This feeling of instant trust and comfort is something I’ll never forget. We sat in aisle 9.
As members of the varsity swimming team, we’d often cross train by running the stadium steps. Each time I crossed aisle 9, I remembered the first date and always got an extra bounce in my step. That stadium was a special place to us — concerts, sporting events, both of our graduations — and I knew it would be the place where I’d ask her to spend the rest of her life with me.
So, in typical fashion, Suzy met me at aisle 1 to do our weekly stadium workout on a Friday evening. Instead of finding me at aisle 1, she found a bouquet of flowers and a note that said “memory 1″ tied to the flag pole at the top of the aisle. Each of the flags from aisles 1 through 9 had a corresponding flower and note as well. The notes represented my first nine memories of Suzy, each leading up to the moment when we rushed the field and found best friends in each other.
Upon reading the ninth memory, Suzy was instructed to turn around and look onto the field — where she saw me. She rushed down the 68 steps and leaned over the edge — just as she had over 3 years before. I told her I never wanted to live another day without her by my side. She leaped into my arms and onto my level where I hugged her as deep as I could. Then I dropped to my knee, asked her to be my wife, and she kissed me before I could even get up. It was the happiest moment of my life — and the best part is I captured the whole thing on camera and video! I brought her favorite bottle of champagne and strawberries onto the field where we celebrated on the grass before the limo picked us up for dinner.
It was an amazing night and the perfect way to start our new life together — in the same exact way we met. Love at first leap!
- Tim H., San Francisco, California