At the onset of a global pandemic, we both found ourselves at transition points in our lives. As we navigated this period of forced isolation and self-reflection, we embarked on the dreaded online dating game. In the middle of 2020 Gillian with the encouragement of her new COVID family dived head first into the murky dating pool. David on the other hand slowly eased his way into the waters in early 2021 quickly realizing he didn’t want to be in there for long. In April 2021 the Hinge algorithm finally brought us together! After a few weeks of back-and-forth text messages and few phone calls. We coordinated our first date at a speak easy in downtown San Diego. A bright-eyed David, excited to be out of the house and Gillian, who was always skeptical of first dates, quickly fell into a vibrant conversation with lots of laughter. The development of our relationship was easy and drama free, and we quickly realized that this was it. Time to delete the dating apps...this time for good.

It was a typical Wednesday, nothing special about the date. Gillian came home from work looking to just make a nice dinner and relax, but David had other plans… After some awkward back and forth David, with help of my neighbor TJ, convinced me to get ready to go to our neighborhood bar, the Swan. As I got ready, my 2 best friends arrived also ready to go to the bar, but first they suggest a drink on the apartment complex deck, a place we all spent a lot time together. As we sat chatting about life, I turned to see David down on one knee with a breath taking emerald and diamond ring. I blanked out for a few moments being completely caught off guard, between fits of laughing and crying, I said yes.