Coincidences brought them together. The love story behind No Shame Theatre proposal.
No Shame Theatre has hosted thousands of uncensored, five-minute acts during its decade of weekly variety shows at the Springer Opera House in downtown Columbus. But regulars who gather each Friday night for these original performances never had seen on this stage what Daniel “DJ” Hernandez presented last month.
Billed as a motivational speech, it certainly was for many in the crowd of about 120, including his friends from Columbus State University, where he graduated last year.
And it especially was for his girlfriend, fellow CSU grad Baylin Pitchford.
At the climax of his monologue, the last of the 15 acts that night, DJ beckoned his high school sweetheart to join him on stage.
“I just want to let you know that I love you,” he told her, “and I appreciate everything you’ve ever done for me and our relationship and that you’re a blessing to me every day.”
DJ, 22, turned to the audience and continued, “The message I’m trying to say, if you have something to repair with somebody, don’t wait, don’t wait.”
Then he asked the audience to take a deep breath, close their eyes, think of a person for whom they are grateful and to thank that person aloud. Baylin, 23, followed his directions as well.
Meanwhile, DJ reached into his jacket, pulled out a ring box, got on one knee and asked the audience to open their eyes.
Baylin gasped, “Oh, my God.”
DJ opened the box and declared, “Baylin Pitchford, I love you with all my heart. Would you make me the happiest man in the world tonight and marry me?”
With her hands cupped over her mouth, Baylin couldn’t speak through her tears. She simply nodded yes.
As the crowd cheered, DJ slipped the engagement ring on Baylin, kissed her and gave her a T-shirt with “Girlfriend” crossed out and “Fiancee” written in script.
How they ended up on that stage for that momentous moment could be a movie script. In time for Valentine’s Day, here’s their love story, full of forces that threatened to keep them apart and junctures that seemed to say they are meant to be together:
They technically meet
It was the autumn of 2013. They were 11th-graders at different high schools in Newnan: Baylin at Trinity Christian, Daniel at Northgate.
Baylin and her boyfriend at the time invited a bunch of friends out for a bowling night at Junction Lanes. One of Baylin’s friends asked whether she could bring someone along with her.
“Of course,” Baylin replied. “The more the merrier.”
Technically, this was the first time Baylin and DJ met, but it wasn’t mighty memorable.
“She was dating someone else,” DJ said. “… I’m a pretty sociable person, but I really didn’t talk to her — not that I didn’t want to.”
“I was with this other guy,” Baylin said. “… I may have said hey to him, but that was pretty much it.”
Fast forward to March 2014. Baylin and her boyfriend had broken up. She decided to not date again until she graduated from high school.
Baylin was working at her family’s restaurant, The Half Shell Oyster Bar & Hot Dog Shop, when DJ walked in for a lunch to go.
He had a girlfriend then, but DJ took more of an interest in Baylin this time. Although he didn’t remember meeting her half a year ago, she looked familiar — and he liked what he saw.
“I thought she was really pretty,” he said.
Baylin immediately recognized DJ as she rang up his order. She reminded him of that bowling night. They chatted about having a mutual friend, but that was about it.
As soon as he left the restaurant, however, Baylin texted that friend to get DJ’s name.
“I just remember thinking he was the most handsome guy,” she said. “It was like, ‘Man, I hope we cross paths again soon.’”
They really meet
Lo and behold, Baylin and DJ attended the same Newnan church, SouthCrest, for years. But they didn’t see each other there until May 2014, when both were single and attending a youth group meeting to prepare for a five-day beach camp in Panama City.
Most of DJ’s friends were girls, but Baylin wasn’t intimidated. She still felt drawn to him. She considered him a good dresser and a good talker but more mature than most guys his age.
DJ had second thoughts about going on the trip, thinking the $400 might not be worth it. But he finally decided to sign up for the chance to have fun with friends and perhaps get closer to God.
At the end of that Wednesday night meeting, Baylin approached DJ in a crowd of friends to say goodbye to him.
DJ held up his phone, open to the contact screen, and asked for her number. Baylin typed it in — but she didn’t get his number.
Sunday afternoon, the day before the trip, DJ texted Baylin, “Let’s play a game.”
Baylin replied, “Who is this?”
That started a series of back-and-forth messages, with DJ giving her clues and Baylin finally guessing who was texting her.
Lo and behold, part two: While they exchanged texts, they were in the same Newnan shopping center, Ashley Park, across the parking lot from each other, both with their mother.
“It’s just one of those extra details that’s kind of funny,” Baylin said. “It makes the situation a bit more interesting.”
Beach trip
While getting closer to God on this trip, Baylin and DJ also got closer to each other.
DJ flirted; Baylin played hard to get.
“He would always be behind me or looking at me,” she said. “He started texting me more.”
DJ “really liked” her smile. He also liked that Baylin made it known to others that she was interested in him.
“I was always the one chasing my relationships,” he said. “At this point, we both had a stake in the game. … The way she gravitated toward me, where she wanted to be there for me, she was very giving. It was something awesome.”
The last night of the beach trip, at a glow-in-the-dark dance party, DJ kissed Baylin on her head.
“I don’t kiss guys unless we’re dating,” she told him.
First date
The day they returned to Newnan from the beach, Baylin told DJ, “Text me, and let’s get together.”
DJ followed through — the next day.
He took her to see the comedy “A Million Ways to Die in the West.” Baylin didn’t think it was all that funny, but it definitely led to romance.
After taking Baylin home and meeting her parents, DJ and Baylin lingered on the front porch.
“I was really crazy about him,” she said.
“I looked at her,” he said. “You know that look.”
They hugged and kissed and vowed to be boyfriend and girlfriend.
“It was a wonderful moment,” he said.
They stayed together through high school despite attending different schools. For college, they didn’t want to contend with distance again, so they attended CSU. Still, their relationship was tested.
“We had a personal growth period in our life with late nights at Waffle House doing classwork, being involved in Greek life and other clubs at CSU, and working all throughout college in jobs and internships,” DJ said. “But we always knew that with sacrifice for us comes great success in the future.”
They saw friends break off relationships that lost the fine balance of interdependence, falling into dependence or independence.
“We loved each other and knew this time at college was a time to better ourselves and not hold each other back from having the full college experience,” DJ said.
“Both of us agreed that you’re either with me or not,” Baylin said. “There was no in between.”
Moving away
After graduating from CSU last year, DJ became a financial representative for defense contractor BAE Systems in Charlotte, N.C., while Baylin stayed home in Newnan to manage her parents’ restaurant and save money.
It was an emotional day as DJ packed for his move to North Carolina. He donated to Goodwill his belongings that couldn’t fit in his Honda Civic. Despite knowing Baylin wasn’t getting in the car, DJ didn’t feel like he was leaving her.
“My life was changing in a flash, and I didn’t know how I was going to handle it, and I was scared,” he said. “But knowing that she will be with me spiritually and emotionally made all the difference in the world to me.”
They wondered how this new separation would affect their relationship. But they resolved, DJ said, to “still be there for one another, and we would make it work as we did in high school and college.”
Between their monthly visits, DJ worked all day and went straight to his apartment — furnished with only a lamp and a mattress on the floor. He refused to go out with friends so he could save money for an engagement ring.
“It was a struggle,” he said, “but I knew at the end of the day I was going to reap the rewards of it.”
The ruse
Although they went to 14 ring shops, DJ had secured Baylin’s ring by the fourth one.
“I only took her to keep giving her the illusion that I did not have it,” he said.
Back in Newnan during Christmastime, DJ secretly asked Baylin’s parents for their blessing to marry her. He was so nervous he nearly vomited.
They cried when he showed them the ring. They told him they weren’t losing a daughter but gaining a son.
Baylin thought they wouldn’t get engaged for a while.
“Every time I talked to him about it, he said there’s a lot he still wants to do,” she said. “Give it a couple more years. Save as much money as we can.”
DJ chose Jan. 17 as the date he would take Baylin to the No Shame Theatre and propose to her on stage. He had attended shows there a few times and likes to give motivational speeches but hadn’t drummed up the courage to perform there. This time, he had a secret mission and extra incentive.
“I could create my new year’s resolution of starting speaking and at the venue I always wanted to do it,” he said. “This was also an opportunity to have my speech videoed as one of my friends owed me a favor and for all of my friends, (Sigma Nu) fraternity brothers and her (Delta Zeta) sorority sisters to come see the proposal without her knowing.”
The week before the show, DJ emailed No Shame Theatre director Ally Kaman his request for that night’s final slot — and his proposal for the proposal.
Kaman didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“Immediate elation,” she said. “I love proposals as it is, and the thought that someone would think so highly of No Shame as to do it on our stage was such an honor.”
Plus, DJ promised Kaman a motivational speech would precede the proposal.
As he drove to Georgia from North Carolina, DJ recited his speech. His theme: Be thankful for the opportunities and the people in your life.
DJ forgot to pack the shoes and belt he wanted to wear for the occasion. He alerted Baylin, who bought a new outfit for him before he picked her up in Newnan. While they drove to Columbus, she teased him, saying, “When you propose to me one day, you’re going to forget the ring.”
They laughed — for different reasons.
Showtime
That night, the No Shame show was in the Springer’s Saloon. The capacity is around 120 folks, and it was full.
“I felt amazed by the level of support that I received from everyone,” DJ said.
But as the time for him to go on stage approached, DJ grew increasingly uneasy.
“He was rubbing his head and chugged down a bottle of water,” Baylin said.
She asked him, “Are you OK? Don’t be so nervous. You’re usually so confident.”
After all, Baylin is his biggest fan.
“I’ve never met someone with as big of a heart to motivate and inspire people as DJ,” she said. “It’s truly a gift that only God has given him. … I will never hold him back from pursuing his dreams of public speaking and being true to himself.”
When he was called to the stage, she told him, “You got it.”
And when he called her to the stage and got down on one knee, Baylin first thought, “This isn’t real.”
Then, when she realized he indeed was proposing to her, “I was just in complete shock,” she said.
Baylin didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“I love him,” she explained. “I just love everything about him. He is just my person. I’ve known for so long. … We just have this connection I never felt with anybody before.”
The crowd heartily cheered.
“The whole room was just enamored,” Kaman said. “… We are a place for artists and creators to experiment with and share their original work, but we are also a community of people in need of a place to be themselves. … The fact that one of our No Shame family will drive (nine) hours back to share such an amazing personal moment with us really exemplifies who we are and why we do what we do.”
“Although we do not live in Columbus anymore,” DJ said, “it will always be our second home due to the kind-natured spirit of its people, and we will never forget the people who made our once-in-a-lifetime moment special.”
Baylin figured, whenever he proposed, DJ would do it creatively. She didn’t think of such a public scenario, but she wouldn’t change the memory.
“Now that I look back on it, I am so happy he did,” she said. “The proposal, it touched so many people around us. The speech brought people to tears. The whole thing together was perfect.”
IF YOU GO
What: No Shame Theatre, an uncensored, weekly variety show of original, five-minute performances.
When: Fridays at 10:30 p.m.; registration for acts starts at 10 p.m.; the first 15 to sign up get a time slot.
Where: Springer Opera House in downtown Columbus. Enter on the First Avenue side, between 10th and 11th streets.
Cost: $5 general admission at the door.
Info: 706-327-3688.
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
