Our Story
Jared and Erin's story starts in the 80s, gets interesting in the early 90s, then picks back up in 2007. Then, in 2008 it takes an exciting turn! For more details, read below!
The Story of Us
Jared and Erin's families both went to the same church when they were young children. Being in different grades though, Jared and Erin didn't often interact. They were the same children's musicals and other children's ministry events (of which there is video documentation!) in the late 80s and early 90s. It wasn't until a youth trip to Atlanta on Labor Day weekend of 1993 that they became friends. Jared claims to have had a crush on Erin at that time, and made sure to position himself next to her all weekend long. They rode up in the same van (instead of riding the big church bus), sat together at the Braves' game, and hung out with the same group at Stone Mountain. Sadly, Jared didn't make his move at this point, and just a few years later the Bates family began attending a new church.
Thank God for web-based social networking! In September of 2007 Jared found Erin again through a mutual friend they both had on Facebook. By then, Erin was living in Tallahassee, where she had moved for college (Go Seminoles!), and Jared had just moved to Grenada (one of the bottom islands in the West Indies) to attend St. Georges University for his Masters' program. They befriended each other on the website, and then began chatting casually in an effort to catch up on old times. Long email messages turned quickly to long phone calls, which kept the two from sleeping much at all. The marathon phone calls kept them both busy (and tired) from early September to late October. Then, as part of Jared's Epidemiology grad work, he came back to Manatee County for a semester-long internship. Erin picked him up from the airport in Tampa on October 30, 2007 and the two have been together ever since. Jared did have to leave again once his internship was over, but he came back for about two weeks in May again. Then in July, when his classes were finished, Erin flew down to spend some time with him on the island. They toured the whole island, enjoyed scuba diving (they're both certified) and trekked through the rainforest. By this point, they knew that they had found the person God meant for them to be with.
So they continued to date and began talking about this future that they wanted to share. Things continued to go well for them, and finally about two weeks before Christmas, Jared told Erin that it was very likely that sometime the following Spring (2009) he would propose.
The Proposal
In mid-December, 2008, Jared and Erin began discussing their eventual engagement. One evening, he told her that it was likely that they would be engaged some time in the Spring of 2009, maybe by her birthday (5/11). Erin was thrilled to hear this news, because even though they both knew they wanted to get married, it was very exciting to think about when that process might start.
At this same time, Jared and his family were planning a Christmas lunch for a few close friends and family members. Erin and her family were also invited. What she didn't realize though, was that this was more than a holiday get-together. Her gift that morning was going to be a one-carat diamond solitaire ring. Earlier that week, Jared approached her parents, and had gotten their permission to ask her to marry him. So this Christmas lunch was also going to be an engagement party. Erin of course had no idea that this was the case, but she was the only one in attendance who didn't. After the Bates' arrived, it didn't take long for Jared to want to exchange gifts with his soon-to-be fiance. He pulled her aside into the front room, away from the crowd of people in the kitchen. Once the were hidden away in a corner, not far from the Christmas tree, he handed her a medium-sized box. She removed the ribbon, and lifted the lid. Inside, hidden by tissue paper was an open ring box, and a card that read: "Erin Michelle Bates, I love you. Will you marry me?"
In an instant, both excitement and confusion flooded Erin's mind. Remembering back to the conversation they had had only a little while before about waiting until Spring, and yet staring at an open ring box, her first reaction was to look at him and say, "Really? Are you kidding?" He assured her that he was in fact serious, at which point she just started kissing him. (About 2 days later, she realized she never officially said "yes," so she finally did at that point.) He put the ring on her finger, and they walked into the kitchen/dining room where all of the other guests were waiting. Her mom and dad were the first to see, followed by her sister, Amber, and then everyone else. It was an especially Merry Christmas for both Erin and Jared that year!
