One online dating site plus two romantic hopefuls; throw in a perfectly awkward first date with some sushi and you get the story of how we met!

The world was shutting down due to the Coronavirus Pandemic and because of that and some other obstacles, the original, elaborate, romantically planned out proposal was also shut down. A trip to the Baltimore Aquarium, the site of our first “I love you” exchange, was planned for early March 2020 and David had everything ready, or so he thought. Jessica came down with a terrible, unshakeable cold (which in hindsight, might have actually been Covid!) and the fun, “casual” trip to the Aquarium seemed like it just wasn’t going to happen. But David was determined, so he picked up the engagement ring from the jeweler and took it home to prepare. During the excitement of the purchase, he didn’t examine the ring until later that evening and noticed a small imperfection. He returned the ring to the jeweler who immediately sent it out for correction. David returned home that day with no ring, a sick girlfriend, and a shutdown Aquarium. The original plan was no more. Oh, but that was not all! No sooner did he send the ring back to get fixed, did the jewelry store shut down too! The ring was now trapped with no way to get to it. Days passed by as we all continued to assume the reopen of society would happen any day. Those days turned into weeks and those weeks into months. It was now May and David, still ring-less, decided he can wait no more. His inner detective skills kicked in and he tracked the jewelry salesman down on Facebook. David worked with him to help rescue the ring that was being held hostage in the shutdown jewelry store. Together, the two of them successfully connected with a manager who was able to make a special trip from their Virginia headquarters to access the closed store and free the ring. The manager retrieved the ring from purgatory and, right there in the parking lot through his car window, David received the beautiful, perfect ring Jessica is wearing today!

With the new ring in hand, David no longer cared about any plan for an elaborate proposal. It was more than two months after his original plans fell through and so now was the time. A short, Memorial Day Weekend trip to my family beach house was the perfect opportunity to pop the question. The weather for the weekend was a bit rainy with some chill in the air. The sun peaked through on Saturday morning and we saw a chance for some much needed beach time. We all rushed to get over to the beach as quickly as we could. With nothing other than sunshine and ocean on the brain, the idea of a possible engagement didn't even cross my mind. I threw on a t-shirt and silly, pink floppy hat and off we went! David and I walked on the beach together talking and laughing. We began to steer away from my family, who had had joined us for the three day weekend. As we continued to walk our own path, David went from walking beside me to standing in front of me. In that moment, I saw the love in his eyes and I realized what was about to happen. Every person on that beach except he and I had simply disappeared. He got down onto one knee right there in the water and looked up at me. David asked me to marry him. I could do nothing but say YES and cry tears of pure joy. Neither of us even heard the clapping of bystanders and the high pitched screams of my sister, who captured photographs of the moment from afar. I am truly the luckiest girl in the world!