Our Story

Perhaps We Had Already Met...

RYCAL

I like to say Josh and I were “re-introduced” through mutual friends.

Funny enough, we'd already been Facebook friends since our undergraduate days at A&T, although neither of us remembers actually meeting the other back then.

Apparently, we'd even occasionally liked and commented on one another's posts over the years.

We were already somewhere in each other's orbit.

We just didn't know where it would eventually lead.

One Conversation at a Time

There wasn't one grand moment when everything suddenly changed.

We simply started talking.

At first, it might be a conversation online every couple of weeks. Then there was another conversation...and another.

Two people who had somehow existed at the edges of each other's lives began discovering the person on the other side of the screen.

And somewhere along the way, something that had begun casually became something neither of us wanted to let go.

The rest, as they say...

became our history.

Then He Had a Plan.

JOSH

The weeks leading up to the proposal were filled with nerves and excitement.

More than anything, I wanted the moment to be special, meaningful and memorable for Rycal.

Before making my plans, I called her mother, Robin, and her brother, Roman, to ask for their blessing.

Once I had it, the planning began.

It was important to me that Ms. Robin be there, and I knew Rycal's family and friends would want to share in the moment too. The week leading up to Valentine's Day, I told my family what I was planning.

They wanted to be there as well.

I chose Greensboro's Bicentennial Garden because it offered the intimate, beautiful atmosphere I imagined.

Everything was coming together.

There was just one small problem.

I still had to get Rycal there without telling her why.

She Had a Suspicion.

RYCAL

I knew Josh was planning something.

He had been “hinting” at a surprise for weeks.

The night before, I had sung at a Valentine's event where some of my friends

were apparently collaborating behind the scenes on the proposal.

I knew nothing about that.

I was simply trying to put on a great Galentine's show and get through my set list!

Then came Saturday.

Josh had given me this oddly specific pickup time—something like 3:40 PM.

That was suspicious enough.

But when he picked me up?

I could barely get two words out of him.

At that point, I knew something was up.

I just didn't know what.

Meanwhile...

JOSH

I had driven to Greensboro a few hours early to scout the garden so I'd know exactly where everything should happen.

Before Rycal got into the car, I was calling and texting, making sure everyone was in position.

Then we hit traffic.

I became completely focused on getting us there on time.

Apparently...

very focused.

I could barely get two words out of him.

The Ride

RYCAL

There we were.

One person sitting in the car trying desperately to make sure an elaborate secret unfolded according to plan.

The other sitting beside him increasingly certain that there was, indeed, a secret.

And between them?

A rather awkward silence.

Thankfully, traffic eventually cooperated.

And they made it.

Waiting Beneath the Arbor

RYCAL

When we arrived at the park, Josh surprised me with our families

and some of our closest friends waiting beneath the wedding arbor.

As we walked toward them, a violinist was playing.

That was another surprise.

Apparently for both of us.

Thanks again, Cousin James.

JOSH

Our families and friends were there with their phones and cameras ready.

The violinist was playing.

After all the planning, nerves, phone calls, text messages, traffic and anticipation...

the moment had finally arrived.

She Said Yes.

Surrounded by the people they loved, beneath the arbor Josh had carefully chosen, the planning stopped.

The suspicions ended.

And there was only the question.

JOSH

I shared what was in my heart, got down on one knee and asked Rycal to marry me.

She gently nodded, gave me that beautiful smile...

and said yes.

Everything I had been holding in finally released.

We embraced.

I remember standing there surrounded by our family and friends,

holding the woman I love and knowing she had just agreed to become my wife.

It was truly one of the happiest moments of my life.

RYCAL

Surrounded by the people we love, Joshua Womble asked me to be his wife.

And I said yes.

There were hugs.

Congratulations.

Smiles.

And then there was one small moment I will always remember.

Mrs. Murphy looked at me with a smile and said...

| “Welcome to the family.” |

And Then...

We Went to the Movies.

Yes.

After the surprise...

after the violinist...

after the question...

after the yes...

after the hugs, photographs and congratulations...

we went to the movies.

Then we left early for our dinner reservation.

Because perhaps that's what makes a love story real.

There are extraordinary moments that change everything.

And then there are wonderfully ordinary moments when you simply get to be together.

That Valentine's Day gave us both.

From That Yes...

...came another.

A larger one.

A promise not simply to share a beautiful day, but to share a life.

And on Saturday, November 14, 2026,

beneath another canopy

and surrounded once again by people who have been part of our journey,

we will make that promise to one another.

This time there won't be a secret.

There won't be suspicious pickup times.

And hopefully...

there won't be traffic.

There will simply be Rycal and Josh,

standing together,

saying yes again.

Only this time—

...for a lifetime.

Rycal & Josh
November 14, 2026