Once upon a time, there was a woman that was comfortable in her own little world, but was beginning to feel like moving onto the next stage in life, but the world is an awkward, loud, and embarrassing place for an introvert. It seems the best way to communicate with a possible partner would be to do it behind a screen. So, she tried researching various websites that claim to help people find their soulmates, but of course most of the people on them were looking for superficial love. Yet, one website seemed different. It was a magical place called eHarmony. The woman gave in and said ok, let's give it a try. After a few dates with some nice, yet not good enough, men the woman had a little less than a month of the trial, and decided if her soulmate was nowhere to be found then she would move on when the trial ended. When all worthy suitors seemed to be elsewhere, eHarmony suggested a handsome man that was just outside my search range. The man was so caring, funny, and wonderful that the woman agreed to emerge from beyond her screen. The man traveled the long journey of the mountain just to take the woman to dinner, and the love just grew from there. Once upon the same time, there was a man who had decided just a few months before that he could find a way to be comfortable living a single life. However, one day he received an email from eHarmony saying that for just $6.99 a month (usually $50 a month) he could be on the website and "find the woman of his dreams". Because of the low price he decided to give it a try and see what would happen. Then God stepped in and showed him Nicole. She was supposedly a 98% match (the 2% being the 100 mile distance). Then a few conversations over messenger, and a song recording later (hey, I have to use my talents for something....) she agreed to go out with him. She was the sweetest, kindest, and most loving woman he had ever met, and he knew very quickly that this was to be the happy ending to the fairy tale.
On October 19, 2018, we met up after work in Manteca to park one of our cars and head up to South Lake Tahoe. We were both in a hurry to get up there before dark, but Billy gave me a soda to drink on the way. So, I wanted to stop in Placerville to use the bathroom and since we were stopping we might as well eat dinner. We got up to Tahoe just fine, but night had fallen. The next morning, Billy wanted to take a walk down to the beach, which was not unusual since we do it almost every time we stay there. It was still morning, but the weather was perfect and the lake as blue as can be. Billy knelt down to "tie his shoe" which he had been doing in random places at random times for weeks now. I told him to stop, and he got up, but then he got down on his other knee. This is when he said the most beautiful things to me and almost had me crying, but having people near by made me keep it together. He pulled out the most beautiful light gold ring with his grandmother's diamond placed in the center. He asked me to marry him, and I said yes. A nice couple came over to congratulate us and gave us a picture that they caught in the actual moment along with offering to take a few more that we posed for.