we're getting married

We grew up just a few miles apart, attended rival high schools, and yet never once crossed paths. It wasn’t until a random night out in Capitol Hill, post COVID, masks on, friends in tow when the universe finally nudged us into each other’s lives. We started talking (definitely yelling through our masks) and it somehow just worked. There was a strange and instant familiarity, like we were picking up an old conversation we didn’t know we’d started. The jokes landed. The timing felt right. And somehow, we just worked. If you know me (Laura), you know I’m not one to settle for a vague type. I once described my ideal partner as someone who looks good with a dolphin, has the soul of a doenjang jjigae, and pasta on the outside. Yes, I meant it. Somehow, Patrick understood the metaphor and fit it, exactly. Years later, countless "jjans" (cheers) and one English Cream Retriever later, we're still talking, still laughing, and now getting ready to say “I do.” *Patrick, reading description of Laura's ideal type* .. "I'm a what?" What really caught my eye: Laura’s glowing exuberance for life, friends and loved ones exude a timeless warmth and soul. Her ingenuity really comes from a delicate but powerful sense of prevailing kindness and optimism that makes everyone, especially myself, a better person for it. I’ve already learned more from her than I can ever give back, and consider myself extremely lucky for her to have chosen me. Something, something, soybeans and pasta. She is indeed, the perfect metaphorical, soup for my soul.