How We Met
Josh and I met in a very unique way– through his mother. Three years ago, I was randomly assigned to be Josh’s mom’s intern during my last semester of graduate school to become a speech-language pathologist. During my first week on the job, Josh’s mom, Dawn, made a phone call to her son, who was in law school across the country, to wish him a Happy Birthday. When I heard future lawyer, Jewish, AND tall, my ears perked. I went home that evening and did what I do best– lurked his Facebook. I was immediately intrigued and could not wait to meet him.
Fast forward a few months; Dawn and I became great friends and I was even invited to dinners with her and her husband. When my parents were in town for my graduation, we were invited to Dawn’s house to celebrate. That was the day that I (and my parents) met Josh. We immediately hit it off. He was easy to talk to, funny, and handsome. We discussed going to a local speakeasy bar and exchanged phone numbers, but in a “friends” sort of way. When we left that evening, my mom said, “You should date him!”
We went out to the bar about a week later. I assumed we were going just as friends, but when Josh showed up in a nice button-down and fancy shoes, I knew he thought of it as a date. Throughout the night we joked and laughed and I even got a live Polynesian War Dance performance in my living room. It all sounds perfect, but in reality I was struggling to separate Josh from his mom being my supervisor just one week prior. I decided it was “too weird” and we remained just friends. This was the point when my best friends decided, “You’re going to marry Josh Greenberg.”
A year and a half and countless bad dates and dating experiences later (for both of us), I had a change of heart. Josh and I had been communicating more, mainly via Snapchat. He sent me a “Happy New Year” text at 12:01am (which I later found out he sent to a bunch of people, so I wasn’t special) and it was in that moment that I decided in 2017, I was going to try to pursue Josh. I told my friends, “Josh Greenberg would never hurt me. He loves me!”
Two weeks later, I went to a show of a local band that his dad manages with a few of my friends. I invited him to go out with my friends and me after the show, where we proceeded to drink a little more than we should have. Josh and I went to the bar to buy drinks and while we were waiting, he put his arm around me. That’s when I knew I had a green light. I turned to him, looked him in the eyes, and said, “I think we should date.” He replied, “I think we should too” and then we passionately kissed.
how they asked
I was more involved than most women when it comes to the engagement. I knew when he talked to my parents about marrying me, I knew when he obtained the diamond that I inherited from my grandmother, and I designed a new setting for the ring with Josh. My one request was for the proposal to be a surprise (and not on Valentine’s Day). Josh has a tendency to spoil surprises, so I was a little worried that I would know when he was going to pop the question. The surprise was almost ruined when the jeweler accidentally left a detailed message regarding the completion of the setting on my voicemail instead of Josh’s.
I had an inkling that he might propose on his birthday, especially when I wasn’t invited to brunch with his mom the morning of his birthday. However, I convinced myself that it wasn’t happening that day because I didn’t want to feel disappointed if it didn’t happen. I was sure it would be on my birthday, three weeks later.
We had a sushi birthday dinner for Josh at our house with his college friends and one of my best friends. After dinner and cake, we were sitting around the table, doing sake bombs, and having fun. Josh left the table to go to the restroom (or so I thought). When he returned, he told me to “come see what the cat did to our room”. This wasn’t unusual, since our kitty can be quite mischievous, especially when a large group of guests come over. What was fishy, was when he wouldn’t tell me what exactly she did and insisted I follow him.
When we walked into our room I saw rose petals on the floor and candlelight, and immediately knew what was happening (though I repeatedly said, “What is this? What’s going on? Is this real?”). He told Alexa to turn on our song (Say You Won’t Let Go by James Arthur), explained why our room was the best place for the proposal, and got down on one knee! I did remember to say “yes” in midst of all of my emotions, and he placed the most perfect ring on my finger. Surprisingly, I was so in shock and overwhelmed that I didn’t cry, which was unexpected since I frequently tear up just reading about random strangers’ proposals.
We then joined the party and surprised them with the news. Only my friend, who was also Josh’s accomplice, knew this was happening. We got to celebrate with our friends and it was absolutely perfect!
