The year was 2018. Some say the grass was greener back then and others say the sky was bluer, but for a younger Brian Walsh the world was just beginning. One fateful day around the Christmas holidays I stumbled upon the dating profile of a stunningly pretty nurse named Laura B. After firing off a message undoubtedly teeming with wit and comedy, I eagerly waited for her reply. Unfortunately one didn’t come that day. Or the day after that. Two weeks later I got the notification that Laura B. the stunningly pretty nurse had replied. Filled with hope I opened the message and shot back another linguistic masterpiece. Even after two weeks though, a reply didn’t come. I think I got the message that wasn’t there for me to get. But fate is not so easily outdone, and as the saying goes the universe works in mysterious ways. Six months later on a separate dating site, again my screen shone with the name Laura and the same picture of a stunningly pretty nurse I had seen months prior. Instantly I liked her profile and it was a match. This time we embarked on conversations of dogs, wine, sushi, and travel, and decided to meet at a nearby sushi bar named O’ku. The rest is history.

The year and a half after our first meeting at O’ku saw many more dates at coffee shops and cocktail bars, bowling alleys and regrettably the movie Midsommar. Conversations branched out to jobs, hobbies, core values, beliefs, futures, and an apparent difference of opinion on the quality of the movie Midsommar. That aside, I knew that Laura B, the now perhaps even more stunningly pretty nurse, was the person that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. After receiving her mom’s blessing and getting a ring, I worked on planning the proposal. A long weekend at Chateau Elan was booked with wine tours and tastings and reservations for brunches and dinners. I was not completely sure when I would get on one knee, but I had wanted to give myself enough opportunities so that I could do it whenever the timing felt right. In the week or so after making all of the bookings and reservations Laura, maybe sensing something was up, said to me, “You know, if you do propose to me, I really want my family there to be with me”. Although I love her family, I was not about to bring them along to my weekend at Chateau Elan. Luckily for me, her family and I had tickets to see The Van Gogh exhibit in Atlanta this summer. I decided to propose that morning before we went into the exhibit. As I think back it’s mostly a blur, but I remember getting on one knee in front of a trash can, opening the ring box upside-down, and then trying to jam the ring on her middle finger on her right hand when I finally sorted out the orientation of the ring box. All-in-all it was everything I could have hoped for because she had said Yes.