Amy

One Question Three hundred sixy-five days. In that time, Travis and I had let our friendship grow into something beautiful and exceedingly rare: love. I must say that a part of me knew this would happen, and the other part of me was convinced I was still stuck in some wonderful dream. November 17th, 2009 I was attending veterinary school in Manhattan, Kansas. He was finishing up his pre-req's at the University of Arkansas. Our one year anniversary fell on a Tuesday, and school being what it was, we didn't expect to see each other. The plan was, we were going to watch the movie "Up" at the same time and stay on the phone so we could do something together. I needed to run an errand at Walgreens before our "movie date" at 6 p.m., so Ashley and I piled into my car and headed that way. As I turned down Sunset, I saw a silver car... a dodge.... that looked familiar... carrying a familiar looking person trying to duck from view. TRAVIS! When we got home, he was waiting on our front porch, petting Diamond. I leapt form my car, neglecting to turn off my engine. I basically floated, okay, more like catapulted myself into his arms. We came in the house, and he immediately retrieved my camping lantern. "You have fifteen minutes to get ready." He said matter-of -factly. I grabbed my coat and bundled up. "Ready!" I chimed. He opened his car door for me, and we were off for yet another adventure. "Do you think the zoo is still open?" He asked. Puzzled, I looked into the dark evening air. "I don't think so, honey." As I finished my sentence, we pulled into the empty parking lot of the Sunset Zoo. "Sweetheart, they look closed." Just as he parked the car, a woman scurried to open the front gate, welcoming us. Travis had arranged for us to walk through the zoo, just the two of us, with the lantern. For those that haven't had the opportunity, it's amazing. Obviously, nocturnal animals are a lot more active (and therefore interesting) at nightfall. We strolled through the chilly air, hand-in-hand... chimpanzees, racoons, the bobcat.... all up and rustling around! As we neared the end of our stroll, Travis asked me if I was hungry. "If you could have any food in the entire world right now, what would it be?" My mind immediately answered "bluefinbluefinbluefin!", but I didn't actually say that... just in case. He lead me into the butterfly sanctuary and education room, which was lit only by candle light. On the table: a small wooden Japanese boat filled with sushi made specially by Jonathan from Blue Fin. Awesome. For those that don't know the significance of it, Blue Fin was where Travis and I got to know each other as friends, sweaty and smelly after TaeKwonDo workouts. We enjoyed a wonderful, filling dinner, complete with reminiscing memories and dreaming about the future. The atmosphere was warm and magical; even the air around us seemed to glitter. As we finished our meal, Travis said, "I made something for you." Digging into a nearby picnic basket, he pulled out a small book and moved closer to me. It was our story. Of how we met. How we became friends. How we overcame obstacles and became closer. Of how we fell in love. There was just one more thing that needed to happen before "happily ever after". It ended with a new beginning. Travis got down on one knee and pulled out a ring. "Amy Guernsey, will you marry me?" I'm not even sure he had finished asking before I started to nod and squeak, "Yes!" Although, he told me later that that split second seemed like an eternity. It still seems as though I may wake at any moment and have to shake the sandman's dust from my heavy eyes. But it's real! Love is real! Travis is real! And so begins the rest of our journey... best friends in love. "To live forever and love for longer."