‘Will You Marry Me? … After She Saw the Size of the Ring, She Said, ‘Yes’

BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY | Special to the Birmingham Times

INDIA AND DR. MAURICE MYERS

Live: Chelsea

Married: May 18, 2019

Met: On Good Friday, April 3, 2015, at the Blue Monkey Lounge on Birmingham’s southside. They were invited to hang out by mutual friends, and Maurice was “knee deep” in a lecture on financial success when he said he noticed that India couldn’t care less about the conversation and “I was coming out to have a good time, not get financial advice,” India laughed.

“I was thinking who is this diminutive, little lady not paying attention to these powerful tidbits of information,” Maurice laughed.

After the talk, Maurice said India was sitting across the room, so he invited her to have a seat next to him and ordered a few drinks to soften the atmosphere and have a cordial conversation. “I still think she was more interested in the drinks than the conversation, but I kept them coming for everybody,” Maurice laughed.

After the gathering, the group returned to one of their mutual friends’ homes to hang out. It was there that Maurice asked India for her phone number and India remembered Maurice called the next day although he recalled waiting four days.

First date: A week later at McDonald’s in Trussville. They met for an ice cream date and Maurice laughed, “my ice cream game was strong.”

“I knew she was a packaged deal… She had her kids with her [Donyelle, and Daveon, 14 and 7, respectively] and I knew every kid likes ice cream, so I knew that ice cream would work all the way around,” Maurice said.

“My kids and I were headed to an event, and he insisted on meeting us, so that’s how we ended up meeting at the McDonald’s for ice cream,” India recalled. “As a matter of fact, the kids didn’t even see him that day.”

“They stayed in the car, and we sent the ice cream out to them,” Maurice chimed in.

“It was nice, and I could see that Maurice was very determined [to see her and finish his financial talk],” India said.

“I still wanted to get my financial advice in and if that took several short meetings that was fine,” Maurice said. “Helping people is my love language, and I guess that’s what I was telling myself at the time. I, myself, being an experienced entrepreneur and her being a younger woman with younger children, I thought we’d make a perfect match,” he said.

The turn: July 2015, after months of wining, dining and educating India, the pair became an item “by constantly having those financial meetings and over the course of time we got to know each other and had great conversations,” Maurice said.

“We grew into wanting to know more about each other,” India chimed in.

“And she figured I’d be a good provider,” Maurice laughed. “We also went to church together at [The Celebration Church, in Center Point]. Opposites attract, we were basically from two different worlds and that drew us together as did our similarities…”

The proposal: January 2019, at the Blue Monkey Lounge on Birmingham’s south side. Maurice thought it fitting to take her back to the place it all began.

“I had these little cards made up that said, ‘will you marry me’, and I had them all over the (lounge). And I had one special one made up for the bartender to present when he brought us the bill that was enclosed in a silver frame and said, ‘Will you marry me? and had the little boxes for her to check ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ and of course, after she saw the size of the ring, she said, ‘yes,’” Maurice laughed.

India said she did pick up on the ‘will you marry me?’ cards all over the lounge, and realized they were for her because they were the only ones in the section. “I was excited about it and was waiting on the moment because I knew it was coming,” she said. “The time and effort he put into doing all that was so magical for me. I said ‘yes’.”

“She was so excited I had to take out the camera and take a picture of her and the ring next to the silver tray,” Maurice added.

India and Dr. Maurice Myers met in 2015 at a lounge on Birmingham’s southside. The couple married four years later. (Provided Photos)

The wedding: The Myers had two wedding ceremonies, one, aboard a yacht in Marimar, Florida, which sailed out to the gulf with 200 of their friends and family members. The second one month later, on June 23, 2019, at the Wine Loft in Birmingham for another 150 guests.

Most memorable for the bride was, “walking down the yacht to Maurice and I was boo-hoo crying. It was from that feeling you get when you realize this is really happening,” India said.

Most memorable for the groom was a moment from the reception at their second wedding. “They played ‘Why I Love You’, by Major, and the song pretty much goes, ‘I found love in you, and I learned to love me too’, and it speaks both to the romance between a man and a woman, and the love that could just as easily be talking about the relationship between a man and God. It tied the spiritual into it, and it pretty much became the theme of our lives,” Maurice said.

They honeymooned in Hilton Head, South Carolina. “We found the first ice cream shop we could find and strolled on the beach. We strolled on the beach a lot and ate at a lot of restaurants and enjoyed time with each other,” Maurice said.

Words of wisdom: “To be equally yoked doesn’t necessarily mean a 50/50 relationship, but it does mean one and one are tied together in matrimony. The sum of the Union should be greater than the whole could have ever been separately,” said Maurice. “We complement each other as our God-given skills, talents, ambitions and love allows. My weaknesses are her strengths… with her strength and beauty being my pleasure. It has been and always will be a journey of intrigue and adventure. We are both better for our similarities and differences. Compassion, compromise, care, and love are endless and infinite at the same time.

India added, “Be intentional, make time for one another, and stay prayerful.”

Happily ever after: The Myers founded Convo-cave Ministries, an internet-based ministry where Maurice serves as pastor, and India, First Lady. They are a blended family with five children: Maurice II, Yadda, Aaliyah, Donyelle, and Daveon, and have three grandchildren.

India, 43, is a Pratt City native, and Jackson Olin High School grad. She attended Lawson State Community College, where she studied business administration, and works as a customer service rep for Industrial Tooling and Supply in Birmingham. India is also the founder of ‘She Shed Ministries’.

Maurice, 65, is a West End native, and Holy Family High School grad. He attended the University of Alabama where he earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science engineering and a master’s degree in arts and science. He obtained a doctorate in theology from The Universal Life Church (ULC) Seminary, in Washington. Maurice retired from the Jefferson County Commission as the IT Director in April of 2024, after 18 years. He is the Past Master of the Masonic Lodge in Birmingham.

“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.

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