After years of hearing about one another, we were finally introduced by our parents and instantly hit it off…we joke and say that it was an arranged marriage! It was definitely love at first sight!
Well, of course, not everything can be perfect…Geoff lives in Manhattan and I live in New Orleans. However, we are very lucky and see each other every other weekend!
And it was on one of those weekend visits that Geoff proposed! I was visiting Geoff in NYC the third weekend in April. On Saturday morning he suggested that we go for a run in Central Park. I was thinking, “Wow! This is great…he’s going to exercise with me! Fabulous!” So, we start out on our run and not 5 minutes into it he said he needed to stop and walk a bit, but for me to go ahead (I was secretly thinking, “uh oh, he’s not going to be able to make it the whole way around…and it’s only 3 miles!!!). However, being the oh so ever patient person that I am I offered to wait and walk with him, but he insisted that I keep running and that he would catch up. So, unsuspecting me kept running while Geoff stopped to put the engagement rings he had put on his chain into his pocket (he thought they would catch my attention bouncing up and down while he was running). True to his word, he caught back up and off we went. We finished our run by Belvedere Castle and Geoff (after a very long stop in the little boys room…he was untangling the rings and his chain that had been jostling around in his pocket for 3 miles!) brought me to a place called Shakespeare’s Garden. It was absolutely gorgeous! Everything was in bloom. We walked over to a bench and Geoff was saying sweet things to me (as usual) and I was wondering why we were just standing there and not sitting down on the bench…then, all of the sudden, he was down on one knee asking me to marry him! I was totally caught by surprise and emphatically said “YES!” He couldn’t have picked a lovelier day…it was absolutely perfect!
We are looking forward to sharing this special time with all of our family and friends and cannot wait to see everyone on “The Big Day” – November 21, 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana! And for those of you who are not aware: November 21 is the Ole Miss v. LSU football game! and seeing that I went to Ole Miss and Geoff went to LSU it will surely be a game to remember. GEAUX REBELS!!!
Once we’re official I will be making the move from “The Big Easy” to “The Big Apple”!
THE DETAILS:
Camille Lauren Collins is the daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Stephen L. Collins of Baton Rouge, LA. She is the granddaughter of Mrs. Imogene Mauney Hardon and the late Jesse J. Hardon of Booneville, MS and Dr. Ted Z. Collins and the late Delores McGlothin Collins of Baton Rouge, LA. She is a graduate of Episcopal High School and The University of Mississippi. Camille presently resides in New Orleans, LA and is Director of Business Development for Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Seasoning Blends. She loves traveling, cooking, reading, and her precious puppy, Honey!
Geoffrey Nathaniel Heard Black is the son of Dr. & Mrs. Frederick L. Black of Baton Rouge, LA. He is a graduate of Catholic High School and Louisiana State University. He resides in New York, NY and works at Prudential as Director, High Tech Investigations. He loves traveling, the outdoors and his cutie pie pup, Duncan!