My name is Melanie and my fiance's name is Louis. It all started one day when I was walking home from the local pool. As I walked through the front door my mom greeted me and handed me an envelope. She said she found it in our mailbox. It wasn’t addressed to anyone. Inside the envelope was a short message, from a boy that happened to live just 5 houses away from mine. In the message Louis introduced himself, and wrote in these exact words "I saw you in the window and I think you look nice", and he included his phone number and wrote that if I would call him, "it would be cool". We were both 14 at the time. Since I had never seen or heard of him before, I never called. About one week later I received another letter in my mailbox, and the week after that, I found a 3rd letter. Finally after my best friend made me feel horrible and heartless, I mustered up the courage to call. We started officially dating the year after.

Six years later, Louis surprised me with a vacation to Vegas for Christmas. I was thrilled. Out of all the places we’ve travelled in the past years, we had never been there. I look back, and think about all the clues that I didn’t pick up on. His parents would say things that I now understand were little accidental giveaways. Louis being nervous about the safe in the room was one indicator of what he was planning next.

On the 3rd day of our trip, which also happened to be my 22nd birthday, we were headed out onto the gondola, in front of the Venetian hotel. Then, not long after we got into the gondola, Louis told me that he had a birthday present for me. First, he asked me to close my eyes. When I opened my eyes, he was down on one knee trying to keep his balance inside of the rocking gondola. Then he asked me to marry him...My heart filled with joy! Eventually I was able to choke out a "yes!” I never expected, from that summer day years ago in high school, that it would come to this. I later learned that Louis was planning the surprise trip and proposal for months. He had spent the entire summer saving his money, getting the courage to ask my parents for permission, and planning every last detail. From our early begins, to his surprise proposal, Louis has always been very determined. I am very glad he is, because today I can honestly say that I am engaged to my soulmate and we couldn’t be happier.