Wayne's side of the story:

It was a dark and stormy night... (Ha ha, I put it in there sweetheart....)

November 5, 2023, is a day that I will remember forever, I did not know it at the time, but I had met my future wife that day. And just a side note, we met online, I just want to confirm that sometimes it really works.

After several messages back and forth over a few days’ time, we decided to meet up. It was a relatively warm and sunny day in South Carolina, and we were on our way to the downtown Greer area to meet for lunch at the “Select” resto for lunch. I arrived at the appointed time (1215) and was surprised to see that she had shown up!

We had a great lunch and conversation, and I don’t think that either of us wanted our time together to end, so I suggested that we go to, so we decided on cupcakes and coffee, which led us to the final stop at Starbucks for several more hours. We talked about everything and nothing, we had such a great time that we decided to meet again, and we haven’t stopped since!

Just a little more background info; both Tracey and I were pretty much at wits end with the dating scene. We both were at the point where, after being single for so long, we were both tired of the games and the parade of nutcases and misfits that we had been running across in our search for our forever person. I personally was at the point where I was just wanting to get a dog as I was very close to giving up on people,

So here we are dating for a few months, and I am just enamored with this blonde beauty, she is a great cook, has great taste, and best of all, she liked me! And things were going along so well that I asked her to come meet me in Hawaii for a week as I was headed there for vacation, and she had never been there, so it was a win-win.

After being there together for a few days and enjoying the island of Oahu, the beach, long walks, and all the vacation revelry it hit me that I wanted to have her around for the duration, so on April 15, 2024, in Waikiki, in the hot tub, at the resort, (since we are being pretty detailed here at 1459 Hours) I asked her to marry me, and she said YES!

Tracey’s side of the story:

As I sat across from Wayne on November 5, 2023, I remember, saying to myself, this man is so interesting. I was enamored with the multiple places and countries that he had lived in and the experiences in life that he was able to enjoy. Throughout this crazy dating process so many of my very close friends encouraged me to just keep giving it a shot, and eventually the right man would come along. I have been fortunate enough to have some extraordinary experiences in my life which has taken me around the world I’ve worked for incredibly interesting people and I have taken away from all of those experiences, a beautiful world of knowledge.

During our lunch, it was so amazing to me that our lives were very parallel and how we looked at life and how we wanted to live the rest of our life. Needless to say, I was gaining faith back into this crazy online dating world of the 2000s. As Wayne said, I don’t think either of us wanted the lunch date to end so we did go for dessert and coffee and we talked a whole lot more. I did have to get home to take care of “Tucker”. I was sure that Wayne thought I was teasing when I said I need to get home to take care of my dog. I certainly was not blowing him off by any means.

I really encouraged him that I would love to see him again and hopefully we can make that happen before he headed back to North Carolina. At that time Wayne was coming to Greenville to look for houses to move back to the area. He had lived in Greenville prior and really wanted to get back to the area and so whether it was fate, serendipity or the great man above, our story began on November 5, 2023.

In our early stages of dating, Wayne would tell people that he had reached a point where he really was looking for a dog and had given up on dating, and when he met me, he not only got a dog, but he got a girlfriend. He and Tucker are extremely close end it feels as though the three of us have been together for a very long time. All of the love that Wayne has for Tucker brings me beautiful joy. I said to Wayne early on that Tucker and I are a package deal :) It is totally safe to say that he loves his package deal.

The relationship with Wayne has taught me to be vulnerable. In this vulnerability I have fallen in love with a beautiful man. Our relationship has been truly organic from our first date. I don’t think that either of us have ever had an awkward moment together. I am fortunate enough to be marrying into a family that wholeheartedly believes in marriage. All of Wayne’s family and very close friends have been nothing short of spectacular to me. My close, friends and family think the world of Wayne and could not be happier for us!

I hope that all of you can join us as we celebrate our union of marriage on October 26 here in beautiful Greenville, South Carolina. For those of you that are reading our story and are not currently with that special someone please don’t give up hope! Stay true to yourself, and your soulmate will come along, and when they do allow yourself to be vulnerable and see where it takes you.

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