the countdown until our forever starts now

The day was Monday, February 14th, 2022. A mutual friend of ours organized a dinner for Gene and another friend who had just arrived in LA for a Disney vacation. The location and time were set. That's when I come into the picture. As I arrive to the restaurant, we find out I was the only one of the L.A group to make it. Now this is the part where it could have been very awkward, but instead it was such a great time for our small group of 4 that after dinner we all decided to go for dessert. After dessert, we then made plans for the following day, and the next day, and the day after that. Now I know what you're thinking, but during this time neither of us developed any romantic feelings for each other. We simply really enjoyed each other's company and hanging out with the friends. Because we found it so easy and natural for us to get along, we stayed in touch after he flew back to Oregon. And after a texting sunglasses emoji battle, and a bold request for me to make him a music playlist, he asked to meet on Zoom. That zoom call became a weekly thing, and soon we were practically frequent flyers. The rest is history.

The day is Sunday, February 26th, 2023. Just 2 weeks after the anniversary of when we first met, Lizbeth gets ready for a girl's date night. We talk on the phone as she is getting ready to leave, she's excited, she has been looking forward to this for a long time and even shows me her outfit. She had even turned down a family dinner with her brother because of this, she felt kind of bad. I told her today I was going to play golf and help my mom out with something. Little does she know that I have actually been in LA since the night before and have planned a surprise with the help of her friends and family. There is no family dinner with her brother. The plan is to have her think the girls date night will start with a speakeasy bar before going to dinner, her friends all come together and make it happen, she suspects nothing. She finally arrives to a loft in the Arts District where she's told they need to have a special password to enter. She is so ecstatic and can't wait that she doesn't question why the bar has no name, why the password is mozzarella sticks, why it's on the 4th floor, or why her friends pushed her through the door first. There surrounded with all her family and friends, and with the PDX crew on Zoom, is a long rose petal aisle she has to follow around the corner to see me. I wait for her nervously with a bouquet of roses, our song playing in the background, under a sign that says: "it was always you". I asked, she said yes, and now we both plan to say: "I do".