McKinley + Tim first met on a mission trip which both their churches were attending and became friends. Nothing serious, just your run of the mill see you when I see you friendship. This went on for a few years until they started “talking”, sharing things like old stories only family knows, hopes for the future and dreams yet to come. This went on for about 6 beautiful months and as a lady does, McKinley patiently waited for Tim to officially ask her out.

During this time McKinley was also preparing for surgery on her heart. She has a condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, but (from what we can see) this has only made life even sweeter for her.  When you spend time with McKinley you can see that she  looks at life as a true gift from God!

The day finally came to take the trip to the hospital. Tim decided he would take off work and go along with her + the family. When they made a rest stop on the trip to the Mayo Clinic Tim + McKinley both got out to stretch their legs. Tim came up to her as if he had something he really wanted to say… she thought, this is it! But he hesitated, slowly turned around and began to walk way. For a split second she thought she had miss read the entire relationship.  However that split second turned into joy as Tim paused and with great courage he turned around and began walking back to her. With his heart on his sleeve + a shy smile he asked. “will you be my girlfriend?”.

Obviously she said, ” YES!”