Val and I met studying at the University of Arkansas in January of 2016. For many months we were just friends and classmates both pursuing majors in Spanish and living in the same freshman dorm. As I got to know Val, I became more intrigued and looked forward to our long talks and debates. I constantly found myself looking for opportunities to spend whatever time I could with him.
When we finally started dating in March of 2016, I began to learn how special he was and he quickly became a blessing in my life. I had prayed to God for many years to lead me to a kind, hard working, intelligent, and godly man. He had done just that. We dated for the entireity of our college careers until we graduated together in May of 2018.
The following August, Val left for the next nine months to pursue further training for the Air Force and I began nursing school at UAMS. Those nine months were hard but full of long Skype dates and tv watching together. Our relationship, despite the distance, continued to grow and become stronger. I knew that I was in love and wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.
When Val returned in May, we went hiking at Petit Jean where we had one of our first dates. After a long hike, he coerced me to follow him under the water falls. He got down on one knee, asking me to marry him and presented me with a ring. I was honestly so excited I did not even see what the ring looked like and said, “Yes!”. However, he preceded to say, “Ha, well not with this ring” and threw it into the waterfall. I was absolutely baffled and confused. I could not believe he actually threw it and I looked out to where it landed. When I turned around, he was still on one knee and once again asked me to marry him with a real ring. Again, I could not wait to say, “Yes!” to spending forever with my best friend and the love of my life.
-Afton Brickman
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