Have you ever heard people make rash comments toward young adults getting married?

"Oh, young marriage never lasts."

"After a few years you're already tired of your spouse and you want a new one."

I've heard comments along these lines before where people assume you are making a huge mistake, and you have no idea what you are doing. Well I'm here to tell you, I very much know what I am doing. Let's be honest, I don't completely know what I'm doing 100 percent of the time and I may never figure it all out, and I am okay with that. The one thing I do know is that I will never regret marrying young.

July 2, 2016 was by far the most amazing day of my life. I may have started the day off bewildered and unknowing of what my day would entail as I slowly drove my hour drive home from working all night. I certainly did not know that my very best friend and the amazing love of my life would propose to me. Matthew and I have not been together an excessively large amount of time but that doesn't matter to me. Within six months or so of dating someone I know, and so do many others, whether or not the person I am with is a possible contender to one day be my husband.

Now this may not always be the case. You could be completely confused about your entire relationship, but maybe some people are good at faking it. It sounds really awful but it has happened to plenty of people and not only young people, but older people as well. I knew in the first moments by how Matthew talked to me and how concerned he was with my happiness that I was meant to be with him. A year and a month later, I am still so amazed by how Matthew cares for me. He is nothing short of a blessing. Sometimes I sit back and think "Wow, God crafted this amazingly loving servant of a man and I never thought I could be this loved." I am certainly not the mushy gushy type with him, and in public we have a mutual agreement to keep our romantic feelings between us. In public we are completely respectful to the people around us.

Our relationship is quite hilarious, to say the least. When I say he's my best friend I mean he's literally the person I go to for everything and without fear of judgment or response. We act like best friends when we are around friends and family. We may share a small kiss or two when we are out but for the most part we are cracking jokes and picking on each other the entire time and neither of us would want it differently. I am completely and entirely grateful for his love and support, because without him I have no idea what I would do. He supported me going through some of the roughest months of my life after a life struggle of mine and he never once wanted to leave my side. I know I will never leave his. Even in his darkest times I will never give up on the man who went through many struggles himself to see to my hurt like he did. I am not bragging at all –– I am simply and entirely content and happy (an understatement) with Matthew because he is such a strong man.

Back to the happiest day of my life, July 2. I was completely taken aback, not because I got proposed to but because of how he did it and the way he did it. First, he bought me a new dress on Thursday before he took me out to dinner, which was on Saturday. He also had me help him pick out a new suit and button up. Then, on Saturday, he took me to Maggiano's in Buckhead and we had dinner, and a very exquisite dinner at that because I have never eaten there before. We sat there for well over an hour after, eating and listening to Frank Sinatra. He sang along and enjoyed our time, and I did as well. After we enjoyed the time we had, he checked his watch, got his jacket, and helped me out of my seat, and we waited outside as the valet brought us our car. After several minutes of waiting, we both thought they lost my car, and then he finally drove up with my car and we got in and he asked me if there was anything else I wanted to do and I nodded my head and told him I just wanted to go home and rest. He began to drive and we started on our way home even though that is not at all where we went.

At this point in the day I'm certainly not thinking he's going to propose to me, so I laid my head back to rest my eyes on the way home. I opened my eyes after a few minutes because I just had this strange feeling, and I looked over and Matthew was just grinning away. I asked him if there was something I didn't know about that he was grinning about, and he continued to smile and shook his head. So I laid my head back for a second time until he started slowing down and making a lot of turns. I know getting to the interstate does not involve so many turns. What I saw was a lot of helicopters and smaller airplanes so I started laughing and asked him what was going on. The response I got was certainly a Matthew answer. He said, "Well, I just thought it was a good day for some fresh air. What about you?" I was half asleep so I shook my head and just sat there while he went in to "check on something" and after he came back he parked and we got out. I'm smiling and he's smiling this entire time and then we walk in and meet the person who ran the facility; we shook hands and exchanged names. We walked around for a few minutes and looked at the pictures on the wall and we were the only two people in there so I asked him again what we were doing there and this time he just smiled and chuckled. We then walked outside and walked up to a running helicopter and I told him that he knew I was afraid of heights, but he nodded it off and we continued to walk towards spinning gusts of wind.

Once we reached the helicopter, a young man opened the door for me and I climbed in and got buckled up. Next, I introduced myself to the pilot, who was a very nice man, and I asked him how long he'd been doing this and he laughed and said two months. I found out very early in our brief trip that he was fairly humorous and liked to pick on people (which certainly worked for me because I am easily paranoid). So, after I put on my headset and we begin to lift off, my heart began to race but after we got in the air it was so breathtaking. I felt so free and weightless that no fear could overwhelm me. And we went over a small part of Buckhead and he pointed some large houses and buildings out to us and explained the significance and I made my weird comments like "trees look like giant pieces of broccoli from the sky" and they both laughed at me. When our trip came to a close, we landed and sat in the helicopter for a few minutes and the young man and the person who ran the facility walked up to the helicopter and helped us out and then offered to take pictures in front of the helicopter. Of course, I did not say no! So, as we posed and took pictures Matthew asked to switch sides for the pictures and then he reached in his jacket pocket and got on one knee and this is how the rest of my life started. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my days with my sweetheart. He went through so many people to make sure we had a video and pictures of our proposal. The whole experience of doing these amazing things I've never done before made my proposal absolutely and undeniably unforgettable, and for the rest of my days, I will cherish this sweet moment.

Now, I know what you must be thinking: this whole long mushy love story means nothing to me. But if you think about the purpose behind it, it may mean something. The entire reason for all of those events and for Matthew going above and beyond were all for the sake of my happiness and because he wanted to make a special moment for both of us so unique and unforgettable and he succeeded, to say the least. This man's love for me has to be unending because I am sometimes difficult to be with, just because of my stubborn ways. I wouldn't trade him for any man in the world. He is my best friend and my angel and protector that was handmade for me by the good lord and I will always believe that.

True love doesn't have a time limit or expiration date, nor does it have an age limit. The heart never lies and when you have something amazing, you cherish it with every ounce of your being. Never push it away because maybe you just have to take chances. I cannot wait to say "I do" to Mathew on November 19, 2016 and spend every day for the rest of my life waking up next to someone who will never let me down and I mean that. I thank God for all of my many blessings but I certainly count Matthew more than once.