LONG STORY SHORT

May 14th 1993 - He was born in Fort Lauderdale, FL

September 3rd 1994 - She was born in Fort Lauderdale, FL

1993-2010 - HE GREW UP IN NEVIS (ST. KITTS & NEVIS)🇰🇳, ST. THOMAS (USVI)🇻🇮, AND TORTOLA (BVI)🇻🇬

1994-2011 - SHE GREW UP IN FORT LAUDERDALE, FL AND IS OF 🇭🇹🇭🇹HAITIAN DESCENT 🇭🇹🇭🇹

November 2011 - First Met, Oakwood University, huntsville, AL

November 2015 - first date at mini-golfing and dinner (According to Amal)

April 2016 - First date at uncf gala (According to Farrah)

May 14th 2016 - he asked her to be his girlfriend

December 30th 2018 - the proposal!

December 29th 2019 - The wedding!

THE OFFICE

Amal:

We were both undergraduates at Oakwood University and a part of a missionary and outreach organization, the National Association for the Prevention of Starvation (NAPS). Each year, a group of volunteers dedicated a year to full-time missionary work. I was part of the 8th group, known as the Year of Dedication Team 8 (YOD8), and I dedicated August 2011 to August 2012 to doing full-time missionary work with NAPS. The team revisited the campus sometime around late October, 2011, and I distinctly remember meeting Farrah in the NAPS office. She was wearing a turquoise graphic T-shirt, with blue jeans; her hair was in a short pixie cut, and she was studiously working on an assignment. I remember thinking, “hmmm, this girl is pretty”. I introduced myself, and then went on my way.

Farrah:

I just remember the YOD group coming back to visit and Amal was one of them.

WEIGHT TRAINING CLASS

Amal:

When I returned to school in August, 2012, Farrah was out of school because she was on the 9th Year of Dedication team (YOD9) doing mission work for the 2012-2013 school year. In Fall 2013 she returned, and this was the first year that we were both at Oakwood at the same time. I soon became somewhat of a secret admirer. I loved her earnest and sincere desire to serve others. I loved her bubbly personality. And I admired her love for God. We also just happened to be in the same weight training class. One day, I came to class eating breakfast from the cafeteria and Farrah jokingly said something along the lines of “you didn’t bring any for me.” It was clear that this was a joke and not meant as a request, however, I took this as a call to action. For the remaining classes that week, I valiantly brought the best food that the cafeteria had to offer. It was as if I was a hunter in the paleolithic period bringing meat that I killed to impress my lady.

Farrah:

I also remember that class. Weight training was at 8 am so I would just eat after class. That morning I was just making small talk with classmates, including Amal. Then when I arrived at the next weight training class, he had food for me. I thought, “why did he take me seriously?” It made me raise my eyebrows initially, but I ultimately didn’t think much of it. I knew that Amal was a nice guy and I convinced myself that he was just being himself... And even though I was joking, I was happy that I got some of those blueberry muffins.

TUTORING

Amal:

General Chemistry was my favorite subject. One day as I was walking in the hall of the Biology department, a Professor who was talking to Farrah stopped me and asked if I would be able to help her with her Chemistry class. I remember thinking, “This is just too good to be true!” I considered this as an opportunity to develop some “Chemistry” with her. After the semester, she switched her major to nursing, and I saw her less often. We continued to work together in NAPS and always seemed to end up in the same groups for missions and outreach. Those times allowed me to continue to get to know her.

Farrah:

I wanted to get a good grade in Chemistry and knew that I needed some help. Looking back at that moment, I honestly feel like we were both in the right place at the right time. I was venting to my professor about difficulties with my chemistry class and here comes Amal who was known to be a good student and willing to help others walking down the hall. This was like an instant answer to prayer. The semester went on, Amal, and I began meeting together, and my grade improved significantly. But still, Amal was just a friend that tutored me.

It was now the summer of 2015, and at this point, I knew that I wanted to be more intentional and direct about pursuing a relationship with Farrah. I had spent months praying about this. I fasted. I read everything the bible had to say about the topic. I spent a lot of time thinking about it. I spent a lot of time observing her. And I would always try to find opportunities to sit next to her and talk to her.

I was convinced that Farrah was the girl for me. I was at peace.

Now I just needed the right opportunity to tell her.

Her sister’s birthday was coming up. I, of course, volunteered to make a video for her sister. Afterward, she thanked me for doing so via text message. I replied:

“I am even more happy that I got a chance to know you a bit better over these last couple of weeks, and I hope that could continue.”

Over the summer, we continued texting each other. When we both returned to Oakwood, I asked if I could have a moment to meet with her. It was time.

We sat down on the steps of her porch, and I started:

“I wanted to meet with you to tell you something that’s been on my mind for a while. And that’s that I like you.”

I then discussed some of the reasons why I liked her, including her love for God, passion for service, her awesome personality. There are many, but I only hit her with a few.

Then I referred to an earlier memory.

I was the photographer for a NAPS mission earlier that summer. One day Farrah, another friend, and I were looking through some of the photos I took up to that point. As we went through them I remarked that “I took a lot of photos of Farrah canvassing cars.” When I said there were many photos of Farrah…before I could continue I heard Farrah say under her breath “Why?” I pretended to not hear it but I never forgot.

After reminding her of that, I said:

“At the time it wasn’t appropriate for me to give you an answer but I can now. As a photographer, I like the subject of my photography to be things that I consider to be beautiful…

…And I can’t begin to express how beautiful you are to me.”

When he said that he liked me, I laughed. I was shocked. Not shocked that he liked me, but how bold he was with telling me. He told me of his intentions, why he liked me, and his views of a potential future for our relationship. At that moment, I thought back to some experiences we shared.

I reflected on our summer conversations, which I appreciated.

I reflected on all our experiences working together and how much I enjoyed working with him.

I reflected on the way he looked at me through the lens of his camera.

I had a strong feeling that he was going to tell me before he did. So I prayed and asked God to give me the right words to say whenever it happened. I told him that I wanted to allow us to know and understand each other as friends first. That way, we would have a better idea if we would want to move forward into a relationship.

Weeks turned into months and months turned into almost a year, and I realized that God had sent me the blessing that I had prayed for in the form of Amal.

In May 2016 Amal came to Florida and received the blessing from my parents to move forward with the relationship. A few days later, on May 14th, Amal's birthday, we officially became a couple. Throughout our relationship, Amal has consistently shown me that he cares for and is willing to make sacrifices for me. Six years of memories, three years together and I am so excited to make this forever!

I spent weeks telling Farrah that I wasn't able to visit her and her family in Florida during the winter break and she was pretty bummed. Little did Farrah know, I conspired with her family. They convinced her that her brother was having an event that she absolutely must attend. But as Farrah walked in she saw me instead ready and eager to pop the question. We were surrounded by her friends and family waiting to capture the moment and celebrate. Not expecting all of this, Farrah tried to run away as soon as she entered the room, but was soon saying yes to marrying the man of her dreams.