Tim first met Tim sometime during the course of Tim’s freshman year at Seattle Pacific University, when Tim was a sophomore. Given their passing visual similarity, as well as their identical Sufjan Stevens concert tees and blue North Face “Borealis” backpacks, Tim was often mistaken for Tim at medium to long distances, and vice versa. Tim decided to leave SPU after freshman year, reducing chances of getting to know Tim any better, in a platonic way, obviously. Tim may have run into Tim when visiting his friends, as Tim had become the 6th Hill resident advisor, but no specific memories stand out to Tim (or Tim). In fact, the story of the Tims goes dark for a time, minus a brief run-in at Capitol Hill Block Party in the early 2010s. Tim was wearing a tank top and cut-offs, backing up rumors Tim had heard that he was “gay now”. Tim was, indeed, “gay now”, but Tim was not, and the two drifted along on their own journeys.
Tim and Tim re-established contact via Facebook in December 2013, when Tim, having come out a while ago, reached out to Tim to see if he would be interested in grabbing coffee. Tim had also recently been talking about Tim with a friend, so it seemed like a good idea to meet up. Tim and Tim met on Tim’s birthday (which Tim didn’t find out until later) at Joe Bar. They had a great time. The next day, Tim had a late Christmas Eve commitment, and texted Tim to see if he wanted to hang out afterwards. The two ended up at Lost Lake (a diner on Capitol Hill), where they shared a mediocre late-night milkshake and basket of tots. Then Tim went home for a week, during which time they communicated frequently via text message.
Upon returning from Christmas Break 2013-14, Tim asked Tim to go for a Saturday hike, which Tim didn’t realize was just the two Tims until Tim picked him up in Tim’s friend’s car. After the hike, they stopped for a meal at Mirkwood Restaurant and Shire Cafe in Arlington (highly recommend, please visit) and also stopped for Blizzards at a DQ in Everett. It was on this drive that Tim first felt the urge to hold Tim’s hand. The following week, Tim and Tim spent time together almost every day. The following Saturday, after watching Joe Wright’s 2005 masterpiece, “Pride & Prejudice”, Tim suggested to Tim that they have a DTR (“Define The Relationship” - thanks, SPU), at which point it seemed pretty clear to both Tims that this was an official thing.
Yes. Fast forward to July 2018, when Tim and Tim were visiting New York City. They ended up at North 5th Street Park in Brooklyn on July 4th to watch the fireworks over the East River. Unbeknownst to Tim (but beknownst to Tim), it was exactly four and a half years since they had started dating. After a spectacular fireworks display (well done, Macy’s), the two sat down on a bench overlooking the water (sort of) to wait for the crowds to disperse. A fire lantern floated high overhead and Tim told Tim to “make a wish”. Tim, ever the hilarious jokester, waved his left hand at Tim and said, “Anything you wanna ask me?” Tim responded by popping open the ring box, its built-in LED light casting a blue-ish glow over the gold band. Tim, quite at a loss for words, laughed for a couple minutes, then said yes. The rest is history.