Last fall JJ showed me a listing online for a house with a gorgeous kitchen. It was one of my first subtle clues that he was thinking about the future of our relationship and taking the next step. Then there was another listing. Then there were the sporadic breath stealing statements and questions. “If we were to get married what would that look like?” “I love you so much it scares me.” All these conversations were two-sided in a way I hadn’t experienced before. We were two people that weren’t afraid to put ourselves out there and ask the tough questions or get hurt.
I started asking close friends and family that knew him, tell me if you see a problem here because I do not. Everybody was ecstatic about this progression and told me how happy I seemed with him and how he is a great person.
We started looking at houses together in January. We were ready to take that plunge. We both said we wanted a new place together not a place that was mine or his but ours. Then the talk about how we’d both like to be married very shortly after or before we lived together. He wanted to show his commitment. Then the heart stopping questions about engagement rings. IF he was to buy me one would I like to pick it out myself, together or have him. I said I would like to him to pick it out with input from me. At one point he sat me down in front of the computer and had me show him some I liked.
It was an agonizing and wonderful couple of months. He didn’t make me wait long. Valentines evening on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa while on a trip with ski club his carefully laid plan was executed. He dropped to one knee while skating and asked me to marry him. Even though I knew it was coming I was shocked. No one had ever taken such lengths to make a moment so special for me. This classy, handsome, smart, funny, sexy man wanted to spend the rest of his life with me and I wanted it more than I’d ever wanted anyone or anything.
We were both giddy and completely in love with each other. We talked about eloping then finally settled on a ‘small’ family wedding at our new house. It worked for both of us. Over the next 4 months we would sell my house, buy our house, sell his house, move into our new home, plan a wedding and get married. It was an exhilarating, exhausting time that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
June 13, 2015 we were married on our front porch surrounded by 60 people that cared about us and were so happy for us. Family had hopped on planes and in cars to be a part of our wedding day. We had beautiful weather and the simple wedding we had planned went perfectly.
I never imagined that I would marry a man a short 17 months after meeting him. But now I realize that when they say ‘when you meet the right person, you just know’ – its true. Everything is comfortable and works between us. We both wanted the same things, we like doing the same things, we were just aligned in a way that I didn’t know two people could be aligned in. The years to get here were at times long and painful but in the end – It was easy.