How We Met
Two of my friends and I were looking for a house in London, Ontario, and stumbled upon the most beautiful home on Kijiji. We made an appointment to see it only to discover that it had four bedrooms and we only had three people. We thought this was it, we wouldn’t get it. Thankfully, our landlord told us she would find someone to take the fourth bedroom and that we could all move in on August 3. Shortly after this, she messaged us and let us know she found the most amazing girl to rent the bedroom.
On July 3rd, 2016, we all met each other for the first time and I swear I felt it in my heart that I met my person the moment I saw her. She was (and still is) the most beautiful, hilarious, quirky, intelligent woman and I just wanted to spend more and more time around her. Her name is Jennifer and she was the fourth addition to our little home.
It took me four months, four months to discover the weird feelings in my tummy were a deep love for her rather than a friendship; it took me four months (after 23 years of confusion) to realize I was gay. It took me four months to tell her how I felt and thankfully she felt the same way. We made it official on November 25, 2016, and have been together ever since!
Jenn has been my rock through so many things; she is my everything.
I’m taking this one step further and telling you the story of how Jenn asked me to be her girlfriend because it’s just too adorable not to share.
Jenn led me down the stairs and opened the door to her basement suite. As soon as it was open I heard a beautiful song by John Mayor (obvs) coming from the base of the stairs, I saw the romantic flicker of candlelight and then I saw little blue notes making their way down the stairs.
Each note held a funny memory, a feeling, a touch, a character trait that Jenn loved; they led to the table in the basement to a final blue note, a note on a table beside Jess’s favorite flowers and favorite wine. I reached down, my fingers wrapping around the paper as I stood up to read it. “So about this _______ (fill in the blank…)” (Jenn and I used to call each other our fill in the blank before we made it official).
Then, Jenn said, “Jess I have wanted to do this for longer than I can describe, but it was sped up, even more, the moment you kissed me last Thursday. Will you please do the honor of being my girlfriend?” I whispered yes and knew was this was the best moment of my life, a moment I never wanted to end and knew never would.
How They Asked
On August 6, Jenn took me to climb the Chief (a difficult hike in Squamish) as it was the first ever hike we did together the year before. We started walking towards the base and Jenn said, “Last year you motivated me all the way up the mountain, that was the only way I made it to the top. This time I want to motivate you.” As she finished her sentence, she pulled out an iPad and started playing a video for me. The video included clips of my best friends from back in Ontario and Jenn’s family. In each clip, people discussed love, Jenn and my relationship and then they all ended by saying, “Keep climbing!” By this point, I was a mess with tears quickly falling down my face and we still had an entire mountain to climb.
As I finished the video, I looked at Jenn thinking, “Okay this is it”, but it wasn’t it, there were many more surprises to come. She took my hand and encouraged me to keep climbing and as I did I ran into my best friend who popped out from behind a tree. She handed me a note, which again explored the meaning of love, our friendship and Jenn and my relationship. As we walked on, another best friend popped out and then another and another (safe to say our two-person hike expanded rapidly).
Finally, we reached the top of the mountain and I looked up to see my mom, dad, sister, brother, aunt and three cousins all with massive smiles across their faces. I ran to them and engulfed them all in tight hugs. When I said I was a mess before, that was an understatement compared to this moment. Then Jenn walked up to me and said she had one more surprise. She took my hand and led me to a quiet spot on the picturesque mountaintop, right in front of a picture frame I had made for Jenn a couple of months prior. It was a frame holding the notes Jenn had used to ask me to be her girlfriend. The notes said, “There still remains one word that this (blank) encapsulates. Jessica Thompson is my (blank).” (We used to call each other our fill in the blanks before we made it official).
Then Jenn looked at me and said, “Babe we have filled that blank with so many amazing things. You are my Netflix buddy, my gym buddy, my soulmate, the love of my life,” Jenn started as she started to let tears fall. “You are my favorite person and I love doing life with you, so,” Jenn said as she took one knee, “Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
I was a mess, so although I couldn’t get the words out, I nodded my head and promised her my forever.
When Jenn was asking, I almost forgot that my friends and family were watching, that countless people on the mountain were watching. The moment I said I do and the ring was on my finger, their cheering broke us out of our love bubble. this is one of my favorite photos. You can see my brother on the far right wiping tears away, which legit brings tears to my eyes even now.
ONE OF MY FAVOURITE PHOTOS TO THIS DAY! Jenn and I kissing with so many of the people I love cheering around us!
My family, who have all been so accepting and loving since the moment I came out. I thank my lucky stars to have such an amazing family.
My first kiss as a fiancee!
