This is part two of a five part series about NFL free agent and sports commentator, Daniel Wilcox-Strickland and his wife Shauna’s love story – life before, during and after their Fairytale wedding. For part one and a slide show dedicated to this couple’s story, click here: Dan and Shauna Wilcox-Strickland - before, during and 19 months after a fairytale wedding
Today’s segment, their engagement story:
Four months into their courtship, Dan designed an engagement ring and had his personal jeweler execute his design. Dan explained, “I wanted the ring to be as personal and special as our relationship." So with ring in pocket, in case the perfect moment came, Dan, Shauna and Dan’s son Tristan, went off for a planned vacation to Disney World and to visit with some of Shauna’s friends and family. “Family is number one with Shauna and myself and Shauna needed me to spend quality time with her family and I needed to watch how Shauna and Tristan would get along on a long trip like this. To say that my son loves Shauna, would be the understatement of the century. He is her greatest fan, only second to me."
Dan still had ring in pocket on the northbound return trip, taking Tristan home to his mother, and for Shauna and Dan to visit Dan’s Alma Mater, Appalachian State University (or so Shauna thought…)
Shauna began the story; “We arrived really late to a condo in the middle of the beautiful Appalachian mountains near Dan’s Alma Mater. I was so tired from the drive that I went right to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, Dan was gone. I couldn’t figure out where he was and when I started to look around for him, I saw how our condo was situated on a cliff and I am a bit of a scaredy cat, so I just went back to bed and waited for Dan to come back. When Dan came back, he told me to stay in bed, that he was fixing breakfast. Now that might not seem like an outrageous gesture to you but you need to know, this man only eats in kitchens, he doesn’t chop, nor even microwaves anything. He will clean or do anything else in any other room, but cooking was completely out of my experience with him." Shauna laughs, "It's a good thing I love to cook but now that I know Dan can cook, I'm going to cash that in when I am 8 months pregnant!"
"I went and showered and when I was drying my hair, Dan told me to go to the bedroom. In the bedroom there was a beautiful rose and a card. In the card Dan wrote the most beautiful words about me and why he loved me. It honestly was the most touching letter I had ever read. At the end of the card Dan told me to go to another room and then another room. In each room there was another card and another note that professed his love. Now any girl in their right mind would have known that this was “the moment” but for whatever reason, it really didn’t dawn on me what was going to happen. When I read the last Letter I was not crying those sweet little tears, I was sobbing. And when Dan asked me to join him on the balcony, all I could do was hold him tightly and cry more.”
Dan adds, “She held on to me so tight that I couldn’t get her to move away from me so I could get down on one knee. When I kept on trying to move her away, she said what are you doing? Get up! But finally, I was able to get down on my knee, bring the ring out, and ask her to be my wife. She hugged me so much and cried so much that she hadn’t said yes. I had to ask her “does this mean yes?" And it did." Then Shauna and Dan, almost in gleeful harmony, say, "It was perfect, just perfect!"
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Kudos and credit to Richard Veytsman Photography
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