These two met when they were in middle school (go LeyVa bulldogs!) - first period pre-algebra class with Mr. Cozzen to be exact. It was hard to miss one another - James with his class clown act and Sally with her gunner exploits. Through second period PE (where James learned Sally is the least attractive when she tries to do a push-up), third period history with Ms. Demedeiros (whom they were both afraid of), fourth period English with Mr. Ebersole (where their entire class celebrated James's beauty through poetry), they quickly became friends in 7th grade. Sally noticed how easily James made her laugh and how interesting and unpredictable he is. While Sally was an annoying teacher's pet, James recognized how hardworking and loyal Sally is underneath her cold exterior. And as the classes continued - algebra with Ms. Kwon, science with Mr. Renteria, and history with Mr. Hitchcock - their friendship grew further and led them to go to the 8th grade graduation dance together. It would be too easy if they ended up together afterwards in high school, but life had other plans for them. Their friendship ebbed and flowed throughout high school as they had less and less classes together and their paths diverged. Proximity plays such a key role in maintaining friendships during those formative school years. As people came and went in and out of their lives after high school, James and Sally continued to hang out regularly despite the distance. It was during these hangouts throughout college and the first year of medical school that made Sally realize how special James was to her. Rather than gamble with the prospects of losing James with the unpredictability of life, Sally made a decision to ask James out, to boba at 99% Tea House in Fremont during the winter of 2016, and the rest is history...kind of. James didn't say yes initially. Being an engineer forced him to look at the situation pragmatically. Long-distance for who knows how long? Having a partner with a grueling career in medicine? It didn't make sense to him, but is love supposed to make sense? They decided to follow their hearts.

The cogs in James's mind began to turn as he considered one idea after another for how he was going to propose. Letting his imagination run wild, James dreamt of proposing on a boat during their planned Japan trip to celebrate her last year of medical school. However, their Japan trip (and James's proposal) never happened that year as the world shut down unexpectedly in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. While James's focus shifted to supporting Sally as best as he could while she faced her new role as a resident physician in the midst of a global pandemic, he never lost sight of the proposal. He kept himself busy, scouting places in SoCal during his many trips to visit Sally, running ideas by their good friend Vega Tang, and courageously asking for permission for her hand from her parents. After scouting one place after another, he finally decided to pay homage to where it all began... No, not LeyVa, though good guess! James decided to pop the question at 99% Tea House where Sally first confessed her feelings to him. Now, it wasn't like Sally didn't know it was going to happen on the day that it happened. After all, when your boyfriend who typically doesn't care what you wear tells you all of a sudden to dress nicely, it's hard to ignore the sign. He tried to cover it up, saying there was some mural in Oakland that he wanted to take pictures at, which is why he was asking her to dress nicely (but all of that is so out of character for James, so he was really ruining it for himself). Additionally, Sally's mother who is terrible at keeping secrets also reiterated that she should dress nicely, only strengthening her hunch that the proposal was undeniably going to happen. En route to this "mural" in Oakland, James wanted to make stop in Fremont to "grab coffee at Suju's", however, instead of turning into the plaza with Suju's, he turned into the plaza where 99% Tea House was at. A table decorated with pictures and balloons was already set up. Leading her out of the car, James got down on one knee...to give a speech that Sally can't recall a single word of...and then finally asked the burning question, taking advantage of Sally's delirious state of mind after driving 5 hours back from LA to SJ on a few hours of sleep. Too tired to say no (jk), she said YES to his proposal. In a frenzy of pure joy and happiness, James being James, quickly stood back up without placing the ring on her finger, so she was left standing awkwardly with her hand out. He quickly corrected himself before she had time to reconsider!