How did we meet? That’s the billion dollar question we are constantly asked; and the answer is quite anti-climatic. Although we came out of the same church and had hundreds of mutual friends, we did not know one another personally and we actually connected through social media. Not a dating site, but good old Facebook. Imagine that! And at our ages! It was during the holiday season at the end of 2021. As we all know, 2020 was a rough year and we were coming off of the heels of great loss. The world was starting to calm down a little and we both were participating in an online, Christmas Bible Challenge. We began to exchange comments under posts regarding this challenge, which eventually led to us exchanging phone numbers, and the rest, as they say, is history. Our first date was shortly afterwards and consisted of dinner and a Christmas play. Following that, we embarked upon a whirlwind of dates, fun, concerts, theme parks, spontaneity, and lots of smiles and laughter. We bonded, enjoyed one another’s company, developed a close friendship, and soon after, an unexpected love.

Our entire year had been filled with “just the two of us” events and the night of our engagement was no different. The holiday season had quickly rolled around again and we were enjoying a wonderful dinner and the magical scenery at the Mission Inn’s “Festival of Lights” in downtown Riverside, CA. As we were memorializing the night with our normal “us-ies”, and right in front of one of the beautifully decorated, larger-than-life Christmas trees, the proposal happened on bended knee. It was intimate, romantic, and in that moment, the light of the engagement ring outshined the 4.5 million twinkling lights surrounding us. To top it off and unbeknownst to us, bystanders captured the entire occasion in videos and pictures and airdropped them. It was perfect!