In a world before Covid-19, when we were both in our last year of college, I was studying Jazz at University of Oregon, and Ruth was studying Composition at Northwest Christian University. When I was hired to play drums for the NCU jazz band which Ruth was already in, playing violin, I was quickly drawn to Ruthie and her gentle spirit, kindness, creativity, and humor. One day after practice I struck up a conversation, and found we had lots of things to talk about, like music, our hopes and dreams, our passions, life experiences, and creative inspirations. Over weeks of mountainous texts and jokes during rehearsal, we decided to hang out, get burritos, and watch Star Wars (she had never watched and claimed she needed an expert to watch with her - a devious ploy). We ended up hanging out for 10 hours, talking, laughing, and munching on cookies. After that, we realized we had a special connection, and things took off from there, but you already knew that.

For our one year anniversary, Trevor and I went to Lincoln City. He took me on a date to the aquarium and we had so much fun looking at all the different fish, especially the sharks! Towards the end of our aquarium visit it began to rain. Trevor seemed so upset and I couldn't figure out why. We made our way to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, and when we had finished it stopped raining. Trevor was so excited and insisted that we leave immediately. Puzzled by his peculiar behavior I followed quickly outside. He took me to a beautiful location on the beach where the clouds had parted so the sun could shine through. I ran up to the water and was overcome with joy and amazement at seeing the golden rays dance on the waves. From behind me Trevor called my name. I turned to find him on one knee holding a gorgeous ring. He smiled and asked, "Will you marry me?", and I was all smiles and tears, but I managed to say "yes".