We're getting married!

This journey did not start as all stories seem to begin- There was a love from the beginning. Grace and I both grew up in the same hometown, minutes apart and what felt like eternities in between. We both started our lives in Humboldt County; lost among the redwoods, but closer for the majority of our lives than we thought at the time. I was around 12 years old when my eyes first met hers. Grace was the quirky, odd, popular, but more beautiful than I could capture in words. There was something that grew from the first time we ran into each other. Grace didn’t know at the time, but she had me captivated from then on. Grace and I both come from large families; herself being the youngest of five girls, and myself the oldest of five boys. There were similarities from the start. We were living our lives in limbo- from the time we crossed paths in middle school, which continued till the day we finally become one. Only our story didn’t happen so easily; Grace lived a busy life, and so did I- constantly letting life take us different ways but always finding the route back to each other. We went to different high schools, talked to different people, but always seemed to find the best of friends in each other, even if it was just talking each other through life’s hurdles. We talked many days and nights away, trusting and growing our confidences in each other without really knowing it. There was nothing that really held us back from sharing our lives; except each other. There was a moment in this time where a fork laid in the road between us, taking Grace to Santa Rosa, and she asked me if she should take this amazing opportunity to be the teacher she’s always wanted. My heart said “No, don’t get farther away”, but I knew life would always bring her close, as it always has been. We have been each others' closest confidants, best of friends, and the love we share will live for as long as we have each other- down whichever path life will take us.

We ran circles around each other, never really committing to the idea of being together, until about 2016 when we decided to take the first shot at being in the same place, same time. There was some strange emotion, love superficially floating in the space between us, but never really saying it. Grace took the leap; to me. After many attempts at trying to get her to spend time with my family and I- she came to the yearly family staycation in Benbow, California- the best place to go in May. I thought she didn’t want to be there, I felt her nervous energy as soon as she arrived, but it soon became comfort. I could see her now, just myself and the woman I had been crushing on for so much of my life. My family instantly drew from her energy, her smile, and all the things that makes her what she is.

There wasn’t a moment I didn’t feel nervous around her- especially the day I drove to Santa Rosa to meet her family. What seemed like 12 hours later I found myself amongst the same family environment I grew to know- welcoming and kind-hearted. There they were, another seven strong, only this family was womanly and all independent in heart and mind. I knew from the moment we all clicked that it was a family I wanted to be a part of, and to have Grace a part of my own. Again, it was love and we knew it, but didn’t say it yet. In September of the same year, I decided to take my life on another path- moving farther from the woman I wanted to spend all my time with. I moved to Oregon, but took that same love we were feeling all the while, and waited for the day to express it. A month later, Grace said the words that vibrated in my chest and still do to this day- she said she loved me. I knew this feeling, every moment I felt it before came together, and I knew I felt it; I told her I had loved her completely. We continued to live our lives, together, but apart. She lived in California, I lived in Oregon, for a winding 18 months of just getting moments together here and there. This period was coming to a close, we had talked about living together and starting our life in the same place, with each other as the two-person team we always knew we were. Our greatest has yet to come, and the best has been in between, from start to forever, Grace and I will continue to live our dream.