It was Tuesday, April 16th 2024 and the “Vision of the Seas” cruise ship had just left its final port in Nassau, Bahamas. The ship was to return to Virginia, where this unforgettable seven night trip had started!

Now, in order to start from there, I’d have to fill you in on how we got to that point!
It was Christmas Day, 2023, and our family, (in our matching pajamas) was sitting on the floor surrounding the Christmas tree. As you can imagine, everyone was having a great time! The kids had opened just about everything they had asked for and more.
We had one more surprise for them, though. All at once, everyone opened up passports and were happy to learn we would be going on a cruise to the Bahamas during school break! Planning and packing for a family of six was a task on its own! It kept me busy for the months to come as I did everything to prepare for our vacation and make sure we weren’t forgetting anything! When it was time to depart, we were all excited and hurried onto the boat. Our first stop was Charleston, SC. where we met my parents, brother, niece, and nephew for a day on the beach. They have lived in South Carolina since 2008. It was just a quick visit, but just enough time for Scott to sneak in a private conversation with my father. We shared a few more days together on “Vision of the Seas” stopping at ports in FL and the Bahamas. We ate ice cream all hours of the day and participated in silly family games from sunrise to sunset.

Every night, we would eat dinner at the Aquarius Dining Restaurant and sit at our usual table with our usual waitstaff. Tuesday, April 16th would be different. There was a theme to the night, all white. Sophia and Brooke wore matching long dresses looking like angels. Annabelle and Jake went for a more casual look, timeless and classic nonetheless. I had my hair Dutch braided on the Bahamas beach earlier that day with little white beads to tie them off. Scott, as handsome as ever in his white attire, led us to dinner that night with a smile on his face.
We sat at our usual round table and had been reminiscing on our favorite parts of the cruise. Suddenly, the entire wait staff broke out in song and dance around us, which led to the rest of restaurant dancing around their tables and waving linens above their heads! We were having such a great time and joined in on the fun! As things quieted down, our kids wanted to keep the fun going, and suggested we played a nostalgic game of “telephone.” The first round went from one person to the next, whispering a phrase, while trying to keep the original message all the way to the last person. We did this a few rounds, with laughter and mispronunciations, but all were a success. Scott announced to the table that he would like to start the next round. He started by whispering to Sophia, who turned to Brooke, who told Annabelle, who whispered to Jake. Jake, who was on my left, looked nervous as I asked him to tell me the phrase that his father passed around the table . He looked up at me, and said confidently, “I love you, Will you marry me?” I gasped and quickly turned to my right, and there was Scott, down on one knee with a ring in his hand. He had asked everyone at the table, one at a time, until the proposal reached me. Scott, who thought of this on the fly, knew he wanted to propose, and was given the perfect opportunity at dinner that night. He gave all of our kids a part in our love story, one that we will never forget.