Kayophe had been living in Los Angeles and met someone who would end up being the catalyst that started the timeline before Jeremy and Kayophe would finally meet. She moved to Springfield, IL for a short time, and decided to move back home to St. Louis to gather her thoughts and figure out her next steps. Before she could go, in true Gatsby style, there had to be a party, of course. She gathered with her friends to celebrate her going away. At the end of the night, they stopped at one last bar.
Jeremy said, “As I walk up the stairs to the establishment, I turn to my right, and there she was! I have never seen anyone like her before, she was absolutely beautiful. The prettiest woman I have ever laid eyes on.” Jeremy gathered the courage to walk up to her, and without saying a word, took her hand in his in attempt to walk to the dancefloor. Kayophe, without even looking in his direction, brushed his hand away. Jeremy wouldn’t give up that easily though. He waited a few seconds and tried again. This time, her friend said she might want to give him a second look, he’s pretty cute. Kay would look up and see Jeremy for the first time, and with her hand in his, they made their way to the dancefloor.
They would continue to dance for over an hour, never speaking a word to each other. The night grew to a close and they exchanged numbers, Kay not thinking much of it as she was about to leave the next morning and never look back. The next day Jeremy texted and they talked and texted nonstop for the next week, and have practically been together ever since. As Kayophe said, “Thank God for chance encounters.”
In their first year together, they – like all couples do – had some ups and downs. Jeremy was at his parent’s house watching a movie that reminded him so much of Kayophe. He said it felt like fate. All the characteristics he loved about her were represented in the movie. He knew he had to get her back and spend the rest of his life with her. He called as she was on her way to the airport to board a flight to Los Angeles and spilled his heart out to her, telling her he loved her with ever fiber in his being.
Their relationship continued, fast and furious, falling deeper and deeper in love with each other. Jeremy knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life loving Kayophe, and he planned a proposal to truly surprise her. According to Kay, Jeremy is a creature of habit, so she thought she would know in advance when the proposal was coming. Jeremy would wait two months with the ring, waiting for the perfect time to propose.
Kayophe and her girlfriends were coming home from an all-girls’ vacation in Mexico, and he decided to surprise her at the airport. He was texting her two best friends during the trip to time everything perfectly. The flight was supposed to land at 11pm, but all good things are worth waiting for. Multiple delays kept pushing their arrival further and further into the early hours of the morning, leaving more time for his anticipation and nervousness to grow. His heart was beating so fast he could barely stand or speak, and once he saw her his heart stopped. This was the moment he had been waiting for. She thought he was just there to pick her up, until he got down on one knee, and asked her to marry him.
Photos by Keith Lee Studios