Anjali & Nick first met in San Francisco in the fall of 2013. They were starting graduate school and their California Teacher Credential programs through the Bay Area Teachers Training Institute (BATTI). While they took classes together for two years every Tuesday & Thursday evening and some weekends, they mostly admired each other from afar, superficially at first and later, as class discussions & presentations revealed more of themselves, their admiration for each other’s intellect and common values of community, social justice, and a lifelong love of growth & learning further fed their curiosities. However, neither acted upon them and when they graduated BATTI in the Spring of 2015 and moved on to their teaching careers, Anjali & Nick continued to simply orbit each other, now in the universe of mutual friends and social media with an occasional like and reaction. It wasn’t until early 2021, after Nick had found his way out of the classroom and was diving headfirst into community organizing that Anjali finally moved on their mutual, yet to be unacted upon curiosities by sliding into Nick’s messages with a simple “How have you been?” Message after message was exchanged and the two quickly learned that much more was shared between them than physical attraction and values: A sense of humor; love of food, music & travel; overlapping social circles that made their years of orbiting seemingly destined for eventual collision. Months went by of messaging each other every day until they finally went on their first date in April of 2021: A picnic for two on a warm sunny day at Temescal Park in Oakland . Now finally getting a long awaited opportunity to connect at length, one on one, and in real life, Anjali & Nick shared so much more than updates on their journeys since their time in grad school. They dove deep into their life stories with each other– the hard learned lessons, joys & aspirations–and almost immediately that initial curiosity they felt so many years back had burst into a superbloom of undeniable love. Sparks flew at their first kiss over the park’s waterfall and the two quickly became an inseparable couple–laughing, traveling, eating, and falling in love with each other. They started a long distance relationship at first as Nick was living in Salinas at the time and Anjali in San Francisco. Between weekend adventures in the Bay Area and a few trips beyond it, the two exchanged handwritten letters expressing how much they missed each other and appreciated this new yet flourishing love. Nick moved back to the Bay Area to be closer to Anjali in August of 2021 and the following December of 2022, Nick asked for Anjali’s hand in marriage at another park, this time in San Francisco, that overlooks the Bay after serenading her with their song, “I Can’t Help Falling In Love with You.” Out of all the bodies in the universe, it was the inevitable pull of gravity that had brought & bonded these two once orbiting beings together. Now as they continue to build their own world together along with their friends and family, Anjali & Nick plan to commit their lives to each other in marriage on August 26th, 2023 in Salinas, CA.