We’re Getting Married!

The short and sweet of it—my soulmate literally showed up at my front door. John and I met during the beginning of the pandemic, after I was laid-off of my job at Williams-Sonoma as a Chef and Cooking Instructor and he was laid-off of his job as well and had recently started Ubering. I requested a ride to the vet to take my kitten for his final rabies shot. I got in the car, the ride somehow dropped from both of our apps before our eyes (technology or divine design!), and John asked me for the address to input manually. As he entered the address, he said it looked familiar, then recalled in surprise that the address was to the same location as his dog’s vet! We talked about everything from our trusted vet and beloved pets, to cleaning up their fur with our mutual-favorite Shark sweeper, to social issues, to the fact that I was a Chef—John almost stopped the car in excitement. We had so much in common that I felt compelled to blurt out my birthdate, then he whipped out his driver’s license to reveal our SHARED birthday. (Twin flames!) We kept in contact, went to John’s favorite sushi restaurant for lunch one afternoon, and were inseparable ever since.

John’s original plan was to propose on our birthday. It was after Christmas, just before our birthday AND Valentine’s Day, so the mood was uber-festive; we were in a celebratory reverie! He had bought me some leggings as a random gift, and I noticed a fancier bag beside them in the kitchen and was curious. John leaned back against the sink and smiled, I smiled bigger, then he took a cherry-red ring box out of the bag and opened the box—teasing me by saying I “can’t have it yet,” but he’d show me what it was. Inside was an inscription facing me in his hands that read: I Am Loved. I was so ecstatic—that I quickly concurred, grabbed the red box, and automatically put the ring on my own finger almost as a reflex! John told me to give it back so he could formally propose. I reluctantly gave it back after a good minute, then he said sort of matter-of-factly (with us both laughing), “TARA, WILL YOU MARRY ME?!” I said “yes,” HE placed the ring on my finger, we hugged each other tight, and laughed well into the night. An unconventional proposal? Yeah. But so is everything else about us.