Wedding Date on Dec 12, 2018

Meeting Your Mate Clive and I met online! At the time, I was a member of several online dating websites, but decided one night to join BlackCupid.com. I'd never heard of the site. Almost as soon as I joined, Clive reached out to me via email. Of course, I took some time to do my due diligence and peruse his page before I decided to respond. In fact, it may have taken me 2 days or so to respond! Once I did, an email conversation ensued, which led to a phone conversation, which finally led to a first date. We had our first date in February 2016 in Atlanta, GA at a restaurant at The Atlantic Station. I remember seeing him for the first time - I was walking across the pavilion to meet him at the door of the restaurant. We caught each others' eye and we both smiled, as though we'd known each other for years. It was a special moment for sure! Falling In Love: After our first date, several months went by before we had our second date. That time lapse was mainly because of me. During that time, my mother was dealing with a serious health challenge; however, Clive was very persistent in his pursuit of me. He called and texted - leaving gentle, sweet text and voice messages to not only check on me, but to check on my mother's wellbeing. That struck a chord with me and I accepted a second date in May 2016. We were scheduled to meet at Dantanna's near Lenox Mall and it happened to be raining very hard that evening. I arrived at the restaurant ahead of time (my usual pattern); however, Clive was not there. In fact, he did not arrive until 2 hours after our appointed time! He did call and text to keep me abreast of his estimated time of arrival. I was slightly annoyed; however, when he finally did walk in I remembered our first date and all of the conversations we'd had up until that time and I smiled. We went on to have an awesome second date and continued to see each other more often afterwards. He came to visit me in Chattanooga, TN where I lived at the time, and I surprised him for his birthday by taking him to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival in Nashville. My closest family and friends know that I do not "do" outdoors! However, I willingly and joyfully made the compromise because it would make Clive happy and it was what he enjoyed! A few months later, we took a road trip to New Orleans, LA for the Essence Festival and had a BALL! We really got to know each other during that trip and realized we didn't want to be with anyone else. We continued to travel together, visiting each other in our respective cities, and before too long I made plans to move back to Atlanta to ensure my mother's health and to really get to know Mr. Clive McCarthy. It was the best decision of my life! Popping the Question: I come from a very large family! I have at least 21 first cousins and we get together regularly throughout the year. The 2017 Christmas season was no exception. Christmas breakfast was held at our house that morning - my parents, my youngest brother and his wife joined us. We opened Christmas gifts and it just so happened that the last gift under the tree was for me from Clive. It was a very small box and as I opened it, I was sure it was an engagement ring. It was NOT! It was a watch and as I tried to hide my disappointment, I went upstairs to get dressed for dinner with my extended family. I later found out that my brother told Clive that I was expecting a ring in that box - Clive had no clue, but my brother really didn't know what was in store! We headed over to my uncle's house for dinner that evening. After dinner, we have a "sing-off" between the women and the men in the family. The women were up first (led by me) and we sang a Christmas song. Of course, we were outstanding and expected to "win" again this year. The men took the stage next. They started to sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", which was nice, but none of us women were impressed. Tired after the events of the day, I took a seat in the kitchen of their home facing the "stage". The next thing I knew, I saw Clive come from behind my 6'7" tall cousin with a mic in his hand. He started singing the opening lines of "All I Want for Christmas" by Mariah Carey. Soon, I realized he was singing to me and was walking closer to me. I realized the moment had come and through tears, I heard him singing the words of the chorus to "Maya will you marry me?" Everyone screamed in excitement and I jumped up from my seat to join him on the "stage". By then, my cousins and my dad were singing the second verse of the song and during the chorus, Clive got down on one knee and asked me to marry him again. Through many tears and with a heart full of joy I said YES! I have video of that special moment that I will remember forever!