We are #finaLEE getting married!

James and Lucia first met when she rushed for Phi Delta Epsilon Medical Fraternity at the University of Nevada, Reno. As part of the new Gamma Class cohort, a choreagraphed dance was to be performed for the annual Children’s Miracle Network Miracle Madness. Naturally, James helped to choreagraph and teach the new class this 12 minute-long technically difficult dance. Being the oh so naturally talented dancer (with two left feet), Lucia somehow caught the eyes of James and the rest was history! James asked Lucia to go on their first date on Friday, April 25th. This was obviously a big deal because Lucia missed her morning organic chemistry class to get ready for their lunch date. They met at the campus Starbucks and walked to James’s car. Lucia, having never seen his car before, just cruised carefully through the parking lot waiting for James to open the passenger door...he opened up the driver’s side door. (Strike 1...just kidding!). Being the romantic James is, he did not tell Lucia where they were going. They drove around for 30 minutes, which in Reno is a long drive to get somewhere, but not by purpose. James was lost and Lucia could tell. She sweetly asked if he needed some help, but James was determined and he was able to find the restaurant (thanks Apple maps!).

They had their first lunch date at Campo next to the River. First dates can be a little awkward, so James was prepared with questions. He asked who were her favorite male and female celebrity crushes. Lucia being not so great at remembering names of actors/movies/songs could not answer, but being quick to give an example, James said Chris Evans for his role as Captain America (the love for Marvel has now become a big deal in their relationship). By the end of the meal, they got to write in a book about their experience. Lucia wrote something short and sweet in Spanish. James wrote a paragrah long story in Korean. Of course, James would not translate it so Lucia took a quick snapshot of what he wrote down because she had a high school friend who could translate. He wrote, “I had a great time! The atmosphere was nice and the date was successful! Your eyes are clear and pretty, Lucia.” What a sweetheart!

The next day, Saturday, the fraternity had a retreat planned to camp at Lake Lahontan. James picked Lucia up and drove them to the beach (he got the door this time). The ride was casual as they had another fraternity member in the car. When they got to the campsite, the group played games for hours. As dusk rolled in, James was making big plans to hold Lucia’s hand under the cover of darkness. Of course James needed some back up so he asked some friends of clever ways to carry out his secret objective, but Lucia’s Big caught wind of the plan and gave her a heads up. James did not know it at the time, but Lucia played along with the plan as they sat next to each other by the fire. Covered by a blanket because Lucia is always cold intolerent (could be a thyroid issue, she has been stubborn to check), James grabbed her hand and there you have it - hand holding for the first time. By the campfire, one of the frat members told scary stories and being the baby Lucia is, this would haunt her through the night. When it was time to get to bed, a group of girls had to wander in the dark to the bathroom. James being a gentleman, made sure they were safe by keeping a watchful eye. Lucia was very appreciative of him being so kind-hearted. The next morning, it was time to go. This time it was just Lucia and James in the car. They talked and laughed, and James eventually dropped the word, “girlfriend.” But given James never really formally asked Lucia to be his girlfriend, she interrupted and said, “Wait, girlfriend?”. James not knowing what to do, was about to ask but Lucia immediately said, “Well, you can’t ask now in the car, that would be awkward.” James created a plan, and that following Monday asked Lucia to meet him after class. When they met up outside the library, they walked to Lucia’s car. As they got to her car, James finally and formally asked Lucia out...in the parking lot. But he had a rose that he gave to her so that was cute. The day was April 28, 2014.

When James first moved to the United States from South Korea, his first city was San Francisco. James has always loved big cities and San Francisco will always hold a huge place in his heart. James and Lucia frequently visit the big city and drive there on most occasions. The first time they went was probably about two months into their relationship. Fascinated by history, Lucia wanted to tell James about the history of Donner’s Pass. She wanted to tell it right so she pulled up the story on Wikipedia. There were a couple highlights within the story - it’s hard to beat a survival story that’s based on a group of families getting stuck in the snow with limited food and water in the middle of winter! - however, admittedly, the story went on for a tad bit too long. James not wanting to be rude, tried to listen while driving and attempting not to fall asleep. They were driving down the hill and it may have been a combination of the invigorating Donner Party story and James needing some caffeine that found them going a bit speedy. A cop pulled them over and that was the end of the Donner Party. In San Francisco, James and Lucia eat at their favorite spots from Fisherman’s Wharf to Crepevine to Ghiradelli’s to recently House of Nanking. They have gone on spontaneous boat rides on the Bay to walking around Golden Gate Park to splashing water at the beach. San Francisco is filled with the hustle and bustle a big city would be known to have and will always be a special city to the couple. Next adventure, an escape room!

Now travel, especially international travel, can really test a relationship. Lucia was involved with a non-profit organization where college students would travel overseas to provide medicine, education, and development. She had been preparing a group to go to Lima, Peru and James wanted to be part of the journey, so he came too! A smaller group arrived in Lima about a week early to explore and have fun before volunteering on medical mobile clinics. They rented a VRBO apartment that faced the ocean, it was a cute space where the group of five got to know one another better, go on morning runs, have meals, and play poker with pistachios. Since Lucia’s family lived nearby, Lucia and her uncle were able to take her friends to yummy restaurants to eat ceviche and choufa, and the family also threw a BBQ for the group. James (“hummus” as the Latinos would call him) was really well liked by the family. Even Lucia’s fragile grandmother came down the stairs unattended to meet him! Even though James did not speak much Spanish, they all shared a lot of laughs and James promised Lucia’s uncles that when he came back to Peru he would be fluent (and James is learning really fast!). When they got to work volunteering, they helped a lot of people on the mountainsides of Pamplona Alta located on the outskirts of Lima. Basic medical care, dental, and pharmacy were areas they volunteered in. They also had one day assigned to help build a staircase that would allow the community to move more easily and safely. Lucia, having a weak stomach, developed food posioning and had to miss out on some of these days. James, being a great boyfriend, bought agua sin gas and Ferrero Rocher chocolates for her (the chocolates were consumed later, and mostly by James...maybe 30/70 haha), and she got better. By the end of the trip, Lucia was able to introduce James to most of her family and the group helped over a thousand people get medical care. Now, they hope to continue this work as PAs.

Probably one of the toughest times in their relationship was PA school, getting in and doing it. The application process was stressful for Lucia. She was hearing about interviews a little faster and had been accepted into two programs. She eventually declined an interview in the East Coast, and then two weeks later James got an interview and was accepted. Thats’s fate for you. Lucia started at Touro University Nevada in July 2017 and James moved across country to start at Drexel University in September 2017. Long distance sucked, and Lucia had the hardest time having several crying sessions before James even moved away. Dates now included videostreaming (pre-COVID era) and writing letters back and forth. They took every opportunity possible to see each other, even taking a few quick extended weekend trips thanks to the Jewish holidays at Lucia’s program. Clinical rotations made it a little easier to see each other. Lucia jumped between Las Vegas and Reno for clerkships while James had to travel to various states for his. Luckily, James was able to complete his extended Family Medicine clerkship in Reno during the summertime which was well coordinated with Lucia also getting to be in Reno for her Orthopedics and Internal Medicine clerkships. Lucia graduated in November 2019, followed by James in December. She took her certifying exam in November as well and officially became a PA, but because of the holidays James had to wait and took his exam in January 2020. This timeline officially makes Lucia sunbae and James hoobae, but James will never admit it! Anyways, their dreams of becoming PAs came true and they both work in primary care in Reno, NV. Lucia is at Community Health Alliance and James is at Advanced Medical Arts.

Proposal was a hot topic slighty before but especially during PA school. At this point, James and Lucia had been dating for 4-5 years. Every time Lucia saw a post about a mutual friend getting engaged, James was quick to hear about it. James being adamant that a propsal would be coming after graduation tested Lucia’s patience, and Lucia’s persistence tested his. It was a Facetime chat during Thanksgiving 2019 with Jessica and Christina where Lucia found out a big surprise. Lucia went to step out to grab something and when she took off her airpods and left, James spoke about a ring. Little to everyone’s knowledge, Lucia overheard the conversation because when she took off her airpods the volume went to speaker mode! Lucia quickly sprinted and yelled “I’m coming back” to turn down the volume. James and Lucia planned their vacation celebration for graduating PA school in Cancun, Mexico. It was their first vacation together after almost 3 years. They stayed right next to the beach and planned an excursion to swim in the famous cenotes. Unfortunately, the weather was not too favorable to James’ plans to propose. He set up a photoshoot and dinner on the beach but was having to keep pushing everything back because of the wind. This was probably the most stressful time of James’ life because he kept having to hide the ring. Eventually the weather decided to cooperate (enough) on January 9, 2020. Lucia had lost her beach hat earlier that day and while getting ready, she looked outside and miraculously saw it. She asked James if he could get it, and this worked out perfectly for James because this was the ONE inconspicuous time they could be separated so he could give the photographer the ring. They took photos along the beach and in a classic Instagram pose where Lucia held James’ hand heading towards the water, James asked her to turn around and was down on one knee. Lucia doesn’t remember what was said, but what is clearly remembered was the word, “YES!”