Virginia Gilliam, Keith Walker to wed
Mark Eurell Gilliam and Susan Lambe Gilliam of West Columbia are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter, Virginia Adams Gilliam, to Braden Keith Walker, son of Braden Tressler Walker and Carol Faye Walker of West Columbia.
The bride-elect, a resident of Cayce, is the granddaughter of the late Stanley Lambe of Orlando, Florida, and the late Virginia Lambe of Oxford, North Carolina, and the late Chuck and Joyce Gilliam of Cayce. She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management from the University of South Carolina. She is employed with The State newspaper as direct response coordinator.
The bridegroom-elect, a resident of West Columbia, is the grandson of Braden T. Walker and Kathy Walker and Ruby Faye Cribb, all of Columbia. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from South Carolina State University. He is employed with Richland One School District as football coach and head strength coach at Columbia High School.
The couple plan a March wedding in Lexington.
In their own words
Q: How did you meet?
A: We met through a mutual friend, Texas Nation.
Q: When did you know your fiance was “the one”?
Virginia: To be perfectly honest, I took an interest in Keith when he ate the rest of my slice of pizza. Traditionally, I would agree that pepperoni isn’t overly romantic, but when he said, “Are you going to finish that?” my heart sped up a little. One particular instance stands out, as to when I was really picturing myself spending the rest of my life with this guy. I probably watched a bit too much HGTV and decided changing the flooring in my kitchen would be fun. How hard could it be to take up a little flooring? Well, 14 hours and four different layers of flooring later, let’s just say we learned. Through all that hard work, Keith was just as dedicated and loving as he always is. His humble nature makes him a wonderful football coach, and I was quickly beginning to picture myself as a football coach’s wife.
Keith: When you start to see yourself with someone, you see just how great they are. I soon realized that she likes to ask questions throughout movies and hiccups louder than anyone I’ve ever met, but she still surprised me every moment with how great she was. Some of our earlier dates included cooking. I soon saw her skills were limited to measuring and stirring, and luckily for me, we didn’t starve. But what she lacked in cooking skills, she more than made up for in love and kindness. (She’s better at cooking now, don’t worry.) Virginia’s allergies seemed to grow worse this past spring because she seemed to clear her throat during jewelry store commercials. So I thought, no better cure for allergies than an engagement ring.
Q: Tell us about the proposal.
Virginia: On my birthday, Keith took me out to dinner at Terra, a delicious restaurant that has a wonderful view of the downtown skyline. After dinner, we were walking hand-in-hand down the sidewalk. The sun was beginning to set, and Keith said, “Look how pretty downtown looks.” I turned around to look at it once more, and when I turned back around to face Keith, he was down on one knee holding out a box containing the most beautiful ring. “Virginia Adams Gilliam, will you marry me?” The rest is a little blurry for me, because the next thing I remember is crying and hugging him, and the ring was on my finger.