I’m totally over the moon! You regulars remember ‘Young Teach,’ the really cute music teacher from Tennessee who had recently acted upon his desire to date black women. So he started a blog, “Adventures of Swirl Man,” and bought “Swirling,” and read it in two days. He was a contributor  here for a while, and then he fell off. But something told me about a week ago to get back in touch…I mean the guys seemed to have basically fallen off the earth. He’d fallen, alright. For a gorgeous girl he met at a Tennessee bar.  They met in December and today he asked her to marry him, and she said YES!! BTW, don’t you just love a guy who doesn’t need to date a girl for a hundred years before he knows she’s the one? (Read how they first met here)

Here’s the summary of what went down, in his words:

I proposed to my girlfriend today, and SHE SAID YES!! I’m so humbled and blessed to spend the rest of my life with her. I’m certain you’ll want to know all the details (being your journalistic self), so here goes:

I bought the ring a few weeks ago. We picked out the ring together, but I kept the proposal a mystery. I’ve been making gifts for her for the past month to give to her every day this week, and give I did. I have her a present every day up through today. The last one, before today, was a “Gillespie Family Photo Album” that detailed our relationship, down to pasting all the movie ticket stubs to every movie we’ve seen together (there were 9 – Django was the best).

So, after giving her a gift a day for a week, I took her up to Memphis to go to the art museum her parents got married in (she didn’t think I remembered, but I did!). We went to eat at a café first and she had no idea of the proposal. We ate, paid and then drove to the park outside the art museum. We walked through the park for an hour, talking and watching all of the people enjoy this beautiful Sunday. I pointed to an open field and we walked through, observing as we went. We saw a man practicing fire juggling (no fire of course, there were children around!). Several families were picnicking in the park and enjoying the day. As we walked, I expressed to her how much I love her and how I can’t wait for her to be my wife. Once we got to the middle of the park, I stopped her.

She had a confused look on her face, as I reached into my pocket. She saw what was coming and started saying, “no, no, no.” I was immediately nervous that she would reject my proposal, but I had already gone this far so I couldn’t stop now!

I got down on one knee. I was sweating harder, because I was scared she would say no. I said, “Ashley, will you marry me?”

She hesitated again, and my apprehension grew; but, to my joy, she said “of course I’ll marry you.” I stayed on my knee for another two minutes while I put the ring on her finger. I stood up.

The first thing I remember after the haze of nervousness, was the fire-juggler. He had dropped his practice batons and was yelling, “YEAH! YEAH!” As he kept cheering, so began the other park-goers. I put my fists in the air, triumphant. I’m a bit of a shy guy, so I made no exultations, but instead put my arm around Ashley and led her toward the art museum.

We spent two hours in the art museum. I’m an enormous art fan, being an artist (musician/music teacher) myself, especially paintings. I can say though, I’ve never seen the beauty in art like I did today. We walked around and took in centuries of art, and felt a part of it together.

We drove back to my house and called our friends and family to tell them the good news. They were extraordinarily happy for us, and their joy served to augment ours.

After everything, today has been one of the most joyous days I’ve ever had. I think I’ve done my White Boy Dance several times already, today!

So, there it is. Love exists and it lives here, between us. I hope our story serves as an example for others like us (we call ourselves a Yin-Yang).

Cheers to all you guys working hard for the heart of a wonderful woman. *sips victory beer*

Yay love!!

Here’s a picture of the nice rock he put on her finger…

Look at this gorgeous couple…!!!

Congrats Whitney and Ashley!