The emerald-cut diamond ring gained its magic in 1951 on the rooftop of a building in Washington D.C. Edward Booth, an alumnus of Princeton University, then studying physics in graduate school at Johns Hopkins University, had summoned his girlfriend to the roof of her parents’ building. He presented the ring and asked for her hand in marriage. Patricia Shannon, a secretary at the CIA, said, “Yes!” They would be together nearly 60 years, until her death in 2009, becoming role models to their grandchildren of what a good relationship looks like. Anna had lived in Providence for only a couple of months when she went to a “drag king extravaganza,” and then hung out with some of the performers afterward, talking. One of them, Sarah, caught Anna’s eye. “She was warm, friendly, and she had a great laugh,” says Anna, a Boston native. “When we were chatting, I was just intrigued by her.” The feeling was far from mutual. Sarah, who had moved to Providence about three years earlier — an Internet quiz told her that’s the place she should live, doesn’t remember meeting Anna that night. But, on March 23, 2019, the two attended a “womxn’s night” at Askew, a restaurant and nightclub in the Jewelry District. “I’m not usually making eyes at people in bars and dancing with strangers,” says Anna. But that’s exactly what happened. Dancing with Sarah felt intimate, comfortable. “I didn’t expect it to feel the way it felt,” says Anna. She gave Sarah her number. Sarah called the next day, and they made a date for coffee. Anna, who works in marketing at Roger Williams University, and Sarah, a physical therapist at Rhode Island Rehabilitation Center in East Providence, switched up their plans for the date. They walked Sarah’s dog instead, and then went to Punta Cana, a Dominican restaurant on Broad Street. “We definitely had margaritas,” says Sarah. “That’s Anna’s favorite drink.” “Margaritas and calamari,” adds Anna.

The attraction built quickly, but the true magic would come when Sarah asked Anna to marry her. They had traveled to Sarah’s parents’ house in Meriden, Connecticut, where Sarah had grown up. On Saturday, they went for a walk in Meriden’s Hubbard Park. Sarah and her family had secret plans. The couple’s walk took them across a bridge. They had a tradition of kissing while crossing bridges when hiking. Anna had to stop Sarah on the bridge. “I was so busy thinking about the proposal, I actually forgot,” says Sarah. Sarah’s family whipped out their cameras and started recording. Sarah turned to Anna and said, “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. We’re the perfect match. I’d like to spend my life with you.” Then, Sarah Johnson, 39, got down on one knee and asked, “Will you marry me?” Anna Booth Cohen, 30, said, “Yes!” Sarah revealed that she had brought a second ring with her that day, one that she would wear herself to mark their promise. It was one her father had gotten at a bar from a man whose girlfriend had said, “No.” Not exactly the type of magic you want in an engagement ring. “You’re not wearing that,” Anna told Sarah. The whole day, she had been carrying a bag, at times clutching it to her chest, not letting Sarah hold it. She took an emerald-cut diamond ring from the bag. “This is my grandmother’s ring,” she told Sarah, dropping to one knee. “You’re my perfect match. Will you marry me?”

Marriage had been on Anna’s mind for a couple of months, and she had asked her mother for the ring that her grandfather, Ed Booth, had given to her grandmother, Pat Shannon. Anna’s mother delivered it at the beginning of August, and Anna had kept it hidden in her underwear drawer ever since. Until last weekend approached. And that’s when she thinks an unearthly force may have intervened. Anna’s mother knew of Sarah’s plan, and she knew Anna wanted to propose with her grandmother’s ring. So Anna’s mother summoned her own mother, Pat, for help from beyond the grave. She gazed at a photo of Pat, and she asked her to tell Anna to keep the ring with her at all times. Anna says the message got through. She took the ring from her underwear drawer, brought it to Meriden and didn’t let go of it until she placed it on Sarah’s finger. And, Sarah, of course, said, Yes!“ The couple plans an Sept 18, 2021, wedding on Martha’s Vineyard. “Kind of COVID permitting,” says Anna. Ed Booth, now 93 and retired to Southold, Long Island, after teaching physics at Boston University for 40 years, is not inclined to credit his late wife for urging Anna to carry the ring with her. “I’m a physicist,” he says. “Guess what: I don’t believe in that kind of thing.” But he’s not ready to dismiss it, either, based on improbable experiences in his own life. “Once in a while, we get an unusual event,” he says. However it came about, his granddaughter’s engagement brought him great pleasure, he says. “It’s so nice to see that ring circle around and finally come home to roost.”