Clear Cut Couples: Amy and Luke

Luke reached out to me with one of the most heartwarming emails I have ever received. He was seeking advice for an engagement ring for the love of his life, Amy. Their love story blew me away and I was so excited to help Luke create the perfect ring for Amy. 

Luke chose a gorgeous oval diamond set in a white gold ring encrusted with pave diamonds. 

Normally, I write The Clear Cut Couple’s story from my perspective, but this time I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it justice as well as Amy herself…Enjoy :) 

Luke and I met our freshman year of high school, when we were 14 years old. We were both members of the cross country team (he was really good, I really was not). 

In high school, I always had a crush on him, we would hang out occasionally and we even went to our winter formal together senior year (there is picture evidence of all this and it is adorably embarrassing).

After graduation, Luke left for the service and I attended Kent State University. We continued to stay in touch minimally. Luke traveled all over the world, eventually landing in North Carolina; while I returned to Pittsburgh and started teaching health and physical education at a local high school. I would see his parents on occasion (they live two blocks from my parents), and we would chat about Luke, his whereabouts and life in general. That would usually spark my intuition to send him a message and say hello. Fast forward a couple years, some “blessings in disguise” and a few acts of fate, brought Luke home for a short visit for Thanksgiving in 2016. We made plans to meet up at a popular establishment on Black Friday. From that evening together, and the best (last) first “date” I’ve ever experienced the following night, we’ve established, maintained and grown this amazing connection together.

Luke proposed Christmas Eve in Hawaii, on the very secluded Kalalau Beach on the Nepali Coast of Kauai. The only way to get to this location is to hike 11 miles to the beach. The hike is long, technical, and challenging. We spent three nights camping and using our “survival” skills. No running water, no food instantly available, no cell phone service and not even anyone around to take a picture...And that’s how he did it.

Our last day on Kalalau beach was Christmas Eve. He told me that morning he was going to set up his GoPro so we could record a video and just take some screenshots later so we had some nice pictures together from that part of our trip (not just the 100 selfies I forced him to take). We have done this before in other locations so I thought nothing of it, and we continued our day sunbathing, hiking and exploring. The sun was starting to set and he asked me if I was ready to take this “picture.” I said sure. We walked up to the place where his GoPro was strategically waiting and I asked him if he would set up my phone too so I could have the pics as well. He did. So both videos start rolling. He walks over and starts telling me all these super cute things and I’m still thinking about this picture we were supposed to take. Then he says “I brought something for you,” and I was kind of upset because he had promised no gifts because the trip to Hawaii was our Christmas gift to each other and I didn’t pack anything to give him. Then he pulled out the ring box and got down on his knee. I put my hands over my mouth and stood there in complete shock for what seems like forever. I screamed yes, and fell to my knees and cried (obviously).