Told from Billy's perspective: It was the summer of '14. A good friend of mine in grad school told me a new roommate just moved into his house - a young woman who was lovely, smart, and feminine, with green eyes and a strong mind. There was a chance, he said, that we could all go out for drinks that night if I hurried over. After quickly brushing my teeth, I grabbed my bike and hurried over with a cold 6-pack of Pabst beer. The rest was history. From Hope's perspective: Sweaty and red-faced, I was making dinner in the kitchen with my sister after a challenging workout. A handsome, tall, elegant man walked into the room holding Pabst beer - I was horrified (who drinks that?). Out of pity, I offered him my last Sierra Nevada. The rest was history.

After deciding that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, Billy set to planning a romantic engagement. He scoured jewelry stores and found a stunning ring that happened to be Welsh, just like me. His plan was to pop the question at a quirky art gallery in Davis, CA during a cocktail party that was scheduled to end at 10 pm, with a DJ and drinks on the rooftop. The night before, however, I had gotten little sleep, so I arrived in Davis exhausted. We decided to take a quick nap before the gallery but we overslept and woke up just before 10! After running to the gallery and racing up the stairs, we found the DJ packing up his music for the night. Sensing the time-constraint, Billy turned to me, got down on one knee, and asked me to be his wife. The moment after I said yes, a gallery attendant asked us to leave…so we moved our celebration to the bar across the street.

Hope, You are my best friend and the women I love. It’s your smile I want to see, and it's your hand I want to hold as we grow old together. I love the goofy, sensitive, warm, loving, heart-aching, crying, laughing, Hope that I saw in you the first day I met you and I’ve been seeing every day since then. I want to wake up each morning with your arm across me, and your leg across me, and all four of (our dog) Felix’s legs kicking me. You are the women that I'll go anywhere with, while debating Bernie vs. Buttigieg, sipping an IPA, laughing at everything that Amy Poehler does, and behind everything, all of it, always...hoping that Hagrid and Madame Maxine are happy together. I remember our first apartment together, #422 in Davis. It was a beautiful, classic, timeless apartment with a slight lead paint problem. Before we moved in and our lease started, we would sit in the side yard eating frozen yogurt and (creepily) watching the residents, dreaming about our lives together. I never told you, but the first time we sat there all I could think of was marrying you. Sometimes I feel so close to you my chest hurts. I promise to never forget how that feels, even in the darker times when I’m not sure what’s hurting for whom. I promise to be there with you, loving you and holding you, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse. All I have is yours. I will love you for all the days of my life.

Billy, I knew you were different that first date, which happened to be your birthday. I had been in law school for a year, and truth be told, I felt different than most of my peers. I was used to telling people what I thought without push back -- as if what I believed was fact or truth rather than opinion. But you set me straight. You challenged me and pushed me to defend my opinions. This was the first thing that truly attracted me to you -- your willingness to engage in any topic and your desire to explore each and every perspective. But it was your compassion that made me want you as a life partner. You, Billy, have the most amazing heart -- an ability to care and show empathy to the smallest and most vulnerable among us. Whether it is saving earthworms that are pushed onto the concrete after a strong rain, or caring for felix even after he bites half your arm off. Your ability to love seems to know no limit. I ask a lot of you and have a lot of heaviness in my life -- yet you are always there for me without reservation. I feel so held by you and so loved by you that I am not afraid to show you my edges or my ugliness because I know that you will only love me more for it. And because of this, I know that no matter where we are -- whether its California, Alaska, Washington DC, or beyond -- you, Billy Swanson, will always be home to me. I love you. I promise to love you for who you are, and for who you are yet to become. I promise to be patient, and to remember that all things between us are rooted in love. I promise to love you both loyally and fiercely.