We swiped right! When the world shut down in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, single adults (along with the rest of the world) were forced online. Sometimes just swiping for entertainment, and sometimes using the app seriously, we both periodically clocked in and out of online dating until one day the Bumble queue generated the other's profile. Once we matched, we talked for a couple of weeks and when the world started re-opening its doors to the public, Jarrod and I decided to meet. After texting about three different places, all still closed due to the Pandemic, we finally settled on a sport’s bar in Columbus, Yogi’s. When I arrived Jarrod was seated at the bar with a beer and an empty shot glass. As I approached him I asked, “Are you Jarrod?” He said, “Hi, Yea, Wow, You’re prettier in person. [pause] You drink Jack?” We never stopped sharing Tennessee Whiskey.

We had always been open about our timeline for our relationship. I knew a proposal was coming, but I didn’t know when. My suspicions were raised when all of a sudden he’d planned a camping trip to Mt. Rainier National Park; however, they were immediately put to bed when that same trip got canceled due to the weather (the kind of weather that would’ve resulted in being sleet on for hours at the end of August…) Little did I know that behind the scenes he was working diligently to cross compare the maps of the mountains with the upcoming forecasts just to find a dry spot in the Cascades for a proposal. The day before, he’d left the house to run some “errands,” but really he drove up to the spot he’d found, and scoped out various vantage points and backdrops for the photographer. On the day of, a little disappointed about the weather, very confused about the plans, and slightly skeptical if I was noticing the signs correctly, I was not the most outwardly enthusiastic version of myself. Jarrod was desperately trying to talk about anything, and I was desperately trying not to talk. In hindsight, the car ride up to the spot was comedically painful. On the way to our hike, he wanted to stop at an overlook that showed the vastness of the entire Clear Creek Valley. Once there, he paused and asked, “do you know why I brought you here?” At this point, now confident I was accurate (and having spotted the photographer in the bushes up the hill), I said, “I think so…” Jarrod proceeded to share the first moments of falling in love, significant elements of our bond together that he loved, and his hopes for our future, before ending with the important question, “Will you marry me?” Reaching for the box in his hands, I said... “Wow, that’s really pretty” (and then I said, “yes”). Later, he pulled out a flask and bottle of Jack Daniels Fire. Starting our next chapter, exactly where we began.