Neither of us can pinpoint that first moment of connection. It could have been as early as 1991, with Tio starting first-grade at Harmony School. Amalia and her family had moved back to Bloomington and Jordan (Amalia’s dad) took a job at Harmony as a teacher. Rachel (Tio’s sister) and Amalia were in the same class and in such a tiny school, our lives occasionally brushed past each other. Perhaps a young Tio interrupted Amalia and Rachel weaving on a loom with his thundering rendition of Wyatt Earp's iconic line, "People call me Wyatt BUURRP!" After all, being deliberately annoying, a raison d’être for most younger brothers, was a particular calling for Tio. And did Tio glimpse the gleam of Amalia's smile as she and Rachel sped away in the Chrysler? Possibly – how could such a smile go unnoticed? But for each other - during those days - we were just Rachel's annoying brother and her charming friend. We had yet to truly see each other. The years that followed were filled with all the joys and sorrows that come with learning about the nature of life and love. That growth – plus some Bloomeranging - brought us to the right place for a second time around. But it was Bumble that brought us face to face. Amalia recognized Tio instantly, while for him, the recognition took a beat. Two decades can cloud memories, especially when "Amalia" was once "Molly." However, her message brought clarity, "Tio SAVICH, from Harmony, Rachel's brother, right?" and sparked some back-and-forth banter for a few days. Amalia was preparing to go to NYC to visit her bestie, Megan, who also hung out with Rachel in high school. She said "Megan, you are NEVER going to believe who I matched with!" They immediately started talking about how cute Tio was, memories of high school, etc. Megan said, "you HAVE to go out with him!" Tio, curious and excited, turned to Rachel for insights: “Amalia is SO COOL!” Megan and Rachel’s enthusiasm justified a coffee date we already knew was happening. That first date at Hopscotch transformed into a sun-drenched walk along the B-line. Just as our initial meeting on Bumble had a sense of familiar newness, our second date had a similar echo. As many times before - though never together - we found ourselves stuck to the floor of the Old Kerasotes Theater, this time bewildered by a nearly 3 hour long Indian film that mirrored Forrest Gump. It was both cliche and strange. Bala (Bubba) was an underwear magnate. Rupa (Jenny) said “Run, Laal, Run!” None of the jokes landed for us, but the cinematography, costumes, and the food they ate on screen was dazzling. As we sat in the dingy dark, our minds wandered back to teenage uncertainties: "Should I make a move?” “Should we leave now to get something to eat?" But the underlying tension and desire was tempered by an easy trust – neither of us really needed the other one, we just wanted to spend time together. Our evening ended hours later under the glow of the Eastland Plaza streetlights, each of us soaking up the silver halos we wore for each other.
In true Amalia fashion, she proposed to Tio. Back in March when Amalia went to Poland, she brought an amber ring back for Tio. He joked "When you asked my ring size, I kind of thought you were going to propose!" and we agreed we weren't quite ready for that -- but the seed was planted. Tio was married before and wasn’t sure if he could get to “will you?” but Amalia read his mind (with the help of a relationship counselor) and inferred that while he may never propose, he would someday say “yes!” Later in the Summer, Amalia started to plan. The plan was to propose on our one-year anniversary, August 18th, at a child-free getaway to Nashville. Amalia found a ring that she deemed to be beautiful, unique, and with a great story -- just like Tio. However, the kiddos had different plans. They did not want to wait. Amalia had been telling them what she was planning to do, and on Sunday, August 13th, Amalia packed up Maddy and Eliza to watch Tio's band, Hazy Hollows, perform at Monkey Hollow Winery. As Eliza packed her backpack full of "essential toys", she said "Mama you should just do it today, I'll pack the ring in my backpack!" Unsure on whether she could trust a four-year-old with the ring, Amalia decided to take it in her purse, just in case. During Tio and Noelle's beautiful set, the kids played and Amalia listened to Tio sing songs he knew she loved. In our year of dating, he had taken to calling her “Mali” as a nickname because it means “little” in Serbian, and so he felt like it was like saying “Babe.” It also recalled “Molly,” at least phonetically. For her birthday, he had recorded an E.P. of songs called “Mali Mir: A Little Peace.” When he played the songs from the E.P. “live” for her and the kids, she knew it was the day. She turned to Rachel and said "I'm doing it today. After the set." She took Tio outside and, with shaking hands, read him the card she had written her proposal on (in case she got too emotional to speak.) He, of course, said yes. He later got her a beautiful sapphire and rose gold ring that she adores. Proposing under the blue moon, we both got to say “yes!” Redundant- yes, but twice is nice! We cannot wait to celebrate our “yes” with loved ones.