We're getting married!

Before meeting Joe, I didn't believe in soulmates. But now, because of Joe, I believe in the invisible tides that pull souls together. It's hard to describe my love for him in words because it is so profound. Like many young adults in this day and age, there was a time when I began to think of "true love" like this rare and mysterious entity that only a few people in life ever got lucky enough to experience. But then Joe came into my life and swept me off my feet (literally and figuratively), and showed me what true love means. What stood out to me on our very first date was how emotionally in touch Joe was. On that date, I showed Joe a picture of the half-sun necklace I got my mom a while ago, because she wore it to wish me well on my first date with him. I explained that my mom used to sing "You Are My Sunshine" to me when I was a little girl, and that's why I got matching half-sun necklaces to wear with her on Mother's Day last year. I began singing the lyrics to see if he was familiar with the song. To my surprise, I looked up to see Joe--this big, buff, intimidating man to anyone who doesn't truly know him--begin to tear up. "My Mom used to sing that song to me too. She passed away a few years ago." It was then that I saw the first glimpse of Joe's heart. As we grew closer, he showered me in a kind of love I've never experienced. Grand displays of romance, and constant little things too. I've always felt cherished by him, and I adore him. The way we laugh together, the way I can tell him anything and be myself around him without fear of judgment. Our common interests, goals, and beliefs. I never thought I would be with someone with whom I felt so compatible, with whom I felt I was made to be with, as if crafted for each other by fate. Neither of us thought we were the kind of people to get engaged in less than a year. But as Joe and I have discovered, the old adage is true: "When you know, you know." I used to have a *four year* dating standard prior to engagement, but Joe was the clear exception. Now, almost a year into our relationship, I fall farther and harder in love with him each day. A few months ago, he told me that the first time he saw me, when I walked through the front entrance at the Vault in Savannah, the light streaming through the windows danced around me like a halo of light, and in that moment his world stopped. He said it was like what he imagined "love at first sight" to feel like. Joe has a way of expressing his love in this way so eloquently. For those of you who don't know him, I wish I could share all the memories I've made with him over the course of our relationship. He is a gentle, goofy, humble, strong, motivated, honest, trustworthy, perceptive, kind, incredible human being, and I am unbelievably excited to call him my future husband. My feelings for him are not just a collection of good memories--they are a product of how he makes me feel when I'm with him. Whole, happy, peaceful, and loved for all that I am. So with that, I will share a poem that encapsulates just some of my feelings for Joe, courtesy of ChatGPT (who is a better poet than I): There's something in the way your eyes find mine-- like they were always meant to. You look at me, and the world softens. You don't just see me--you feel me, in the kind of way that quiets all the noise. Your strength doesn't overpower--it protects. It makes room for my softness, my laughter, my light, like it was made to hold it all. When I smile, you settle. When you lean in, I bloom. Your jawline was built to cradle my forehead. My hands were shaped to rest on your heart. We don't fit because we match-- We fit because we balance. There's a reason people say we look like we're made for each other. They see what I feel: This is where my soul belongs. I love you, Joe Reinl, and I can't wait to live this life with you. I've got your back forever--no takesies-backsies!