Our story began many years before that snowy February day when we first laid eyes on each other. Our story began 12 years prior, when I decided at the age of 6, that I wanted to play the harp.

My Ohio harp teacher encouraged my parents to travel to Toronto so I could study with one of the world’s leading harpists.  We began making regular monthly trips to Toronto. During the summer months I would stay for weeks in order to take daily lessons.  My Toronto teacher lived on Burnside Drive, and knew of a lovely lady down the street from her who owned a Bed and Breakfast - Diane Richard. So, every summer from age 10 to 18, I would stay at Diane’s B&B for a few weeks.  Diane was very gracious , allowing me to practice for hours in her living room every night.  Through the years, Diane and my family developed a strong friendship.

I decided in my last year of high school to audition for music conservatories. The Glenn Gould School of Music in Toronto happened to be one of those conservatories where I auditioned. Diane was having a family reunion at her B&B on the same weekend as my audition.  She knew the importance of this audition and invited me to perform for her family as a “practice performance” before my audition.  On February 20, 2011 I played for Diane’s family, and her nephew, Alex, was in the audience. Alex said he was instantly mesmerized by the harp, but more so the girl “with the country accent” behind the harp. :) He secretly recorded bits of my harp performance on his phone and later that night, fell asleep to it.  The next morning, he asked his Aunt Diane for the harpist’s name, and added her on Facebook. 

Over the course of many months, Alex attempted to message me via Facebook.  However, I was so focused on my auditions and completing high school that I could not care less that a boy from another country was trying to talk to me.  Yes, he was a hottie, but what were the chances that our paths would cross again? After many months of trying to communicate with me, Alex was about to give up.  He knew that I’d been accepted to the Glenn Gould School and would be living in Toronto for the next four years.  On July 17, 2011 Alex said he was going to message me one more time and make it very clear that he was interested. If I didn't respond to his message, he wasn't going to contact me anymore. So he messaged me and asked me on a date for the next time he was in Toronto. This time, for whatever reason, I responded to his message. I instantly said yes, and from that point on, we have been inseparable.

We began Skyping each other every night, for many hours, with not a dull minute passing.  After our first Skype call, we knew that this was it.  We would say things to each other like “What were the chances… it has to be meant to be” and “We’re going to last a really long time.  I can already tell”. We set our first date for October 7, 2011, in Toronto.   By then, after countless conversations about every topic imaginable, we felt as if we had known each other for years.

We met at Union Station. I showed him around the city, and we finished our first night at Sugar Beach Park. We sat on beach chairs looking out at the harbor and talked for hours about our childhood and our families.  It was that night that we held hands for the first time, shared our first kiss, and told each other that we loved one another.

We continued the long-distance relationship for seven more years, seeing each other every few months, but continuing our long talks daily.  I pursued my studies in Toronto, Bloomington, and Kingston, while Alex studied in Ottawa and Hong Kong. Through all the long-distance, our relationship held strong, and our love for each other never wavered.

In September 2018, our long-distance finally ended when I moved to Ottawa to begin my career as a Harpist. Little did I know that Alex had already asked my parents for their blessing, and had begun designing a ring.  We planned a vacation out west, but the day before our departure we attended a family friend’s wedding. I mentioned how I couldn’t wait for this to be us, only to receive the same response from Alex of “Well, it will be a few more years." I was crushed. 

We set off on our vacation, and I tried not to let my disappointment ruin the trip.  We started in Vancouver and on October 9, 2018 we hiked up to St. Mark’s Summit, which overlooks the Vancouver Islands. Typically, I’m the faster hiker of the two, but this time, Alex was leaving me in the dust! When we reached the summit, we split up to try to find the perfect spot to overlook the islands.  Alex, luckily, found the viewpoint first, and was able to remove the ring from his backpack and sneak it into his pocket before he called me to join him.  After a few minutes of admiring the view Alex got up, and that’s when I noticed his breath suddenly shortened, and completely catching me by surprise, he bent on a knee and proposed to me at the top of St. Mark’s Summit. After several minutes of shock I said yes, and thus the wedding planning began! 

Thank you to all who took part in our story, and for those who supported our relationship through the many years of long distance.  We are so excited to finally be married, and we hope you will join us in celebrating our love in January! :)