We are getting married!

Have you ever heard of the six degrees of separation? It is the idea that all people on average are six, or fewer, social connections away from each other. In 2012 sitting next to Becky on a bus traveling from Spain to Portugal was a boy from New Jersey. They were traveling to meet mutual friends who were studying abroad, as they were a day late they were paired together for that long travel. 6 hours, 1 bus, two people. Years passed and Becky hardly thought about that boy until one fateful day in March 2018. She was on a dating site that worked to connect you to match based upon a mutual friend or acquaintance. She paired with Mark, a hockey player from New Jersey. Little did they know, that the boy on the bus years ago is what brought them together. As it turns out that boy and Mark were co-captains of the hockey team together in High School. A girl from Oregon and a boy from New Jersey brought together by a chance meeting 6 years prior. Turns out we have a lot to thank that boy from the bus for.

It's not often that you remember the first moment you laid eyes on someone. But the minute I met mark, it felt like time slowed down, almost as a gift, just so I could capture each second. I can replay that memory with such ease, that it's almost like it's happening now. Mark says he looked up and saw a girl in a pink beanie with a smile that he'll never forget. Our first date was at the Spotted Owl, a dive bar in NYC. It was easy, conversation flowed, and time quickly passed. Mark knew he was in for a second date when he caught me smiling at him over my shoulder as I walked away. On their third date Mark asked "What can I expect from this?" "Are you seeing anyone else?" In which he got a response of "well that's forward for a third date!" I had been planning to move back to Oregon at the time. Mark likes to look back on that memory and say "I knew what I wanted, and I was right!" After each date I wrote down in my notebook where we were and what we did. I knew I never wanted to forget these moments. Ice skating in Central Park, ice cream in union square, dinner in the west village. I was still planning on moving to Oregon at the time. One night sitting in a restaurant and Mark says "this could be something really great if you let it." A few days later we were taking a train from the city to marks home with my suitcase full of dirty laundry, so I could avoid a day in the laundromat, when i looked up and saw him laughing. It hit me then. In this ordinary moment. This was the moment, the leap, that everyone had described to me when they met their spouse, suddenly it was right in front of me. Leap for love, take the risk, or say goodbye. So I leapt. 10 dates. 3 months. 2 people.