We're getting married

In July of 2025 Kieran and I planned a trip to visit Claire (Kieran's sister) in Oregon. We were both really excited to spend a few days exploring Portland and seeing all the sites and eating all the food. There's this bookstore in Portland, total tourist spot, called Powell's. It's huge. Their tagline is that they are the world's largest independent bookstore. I've wanted to go for years and let me tell you I was not prepared for how crowded it was. Everywhere we turned we were bumping into people, saying sorrys, and turning around to find emptier aisles. I thought it was amazing, Kieran looked like he was having slightly less fun. He suggested we split up and each find interesting books to show the other and meet at the top, to which I said "Why would we do that?" (I know, I know but in my defense I wanted to experience the entire store with him by my side and also losing him in that crowd sounded like a recipe for disaster.) Kieran took my rejection in stride and we kept meandering through the store, avoided the most crowded aisles which turned out to be the aisles I was most interested in exploring. Fantasy is really experiencing a reader boom right now if you didn't know. Kieran eventually corralled me to the top floor. It was completely empty, turns out people are not so interested in art history books right now. I am included in those people. Kieran pulled me into a small alcove and set up his camera to take a photo of us, as soon as the shot was captured I tried pulling us back to the busier sections of the store. I had books to see and souvenirs to buy, but Kieran was insistent on staying in that alcove. He looked nervous, I blamed the crowds and the 2 coffees we had already had that day. Right when I was getting ready to ask if he was okay he took my hand in his. He looked into my eyes, and boy does he have great eyes. He smiled at me and he told me he loved me and then he got down on one knee. He started telling me how much he loved me and how excited he was to plan a future with me. He asked me to marry him and he slid the ring onto my finger. It wouldn't be until later that we realized I never actually said yes, but we've both known the answer was yes since we first saw each other standing in the rain in front of that bookstore in Berkeley. My favorite memory will always be running out of that bookstore holding his hand, looking for a quiet spot to sit down in the shade and call all our favorite people and share the news. We took so many photos together while we waited for our family to answer and I love looking back at those. We look like the happiest people you've ever seen, and truly when we're together, we are.