How We Met
We sing together in One Voice Mixed Chorus (one of N. America’s largest LGBTQ mixed choruses.)
How They Asked
I had just returned from a disaster relief deployment with the Red Cross to respond to the fires out in Oregon, and I had to quarantine when I got back which meant I hadn’t seen her in about three weeks. I got the call that I was covid negative and we decided to go to an outdoor, socially distanced dinner at our favorite place to celebrate. She suggested, since I’d been couped up in the hotel room for so long, that we go on a walk before dinner. We ended up at the park, on the bench, that we had our first kiss in (nearby, so not an unusual destination.) We were drinking tea, reconnecting, and laughing, and I remember that she was probably a minute into telling me how much she loved me, and what an impact I had made in her life, in becoming the person she wants to be, before I realized it was a bit odd for her to monologue that way. Then she asked if I wanted to to make this a little more permanent, and got down on one knee and asked me to be her wife. She proposed with a ring that her step-mother made (3rd generation jeweler in Philly) that included a stone from her mother’s engagement ring. As we very much see this as not only us joining together, but the joining of our families, it was pretty perfect. Afterwards we went to dinner, and the manager bought us a round of fancy bourbon (we are regulars there) and we celebrated by calling our loved ones and sharing the good news while grinning from ear to ear.