Our Story
Jon and I become friends way back in 2003, back when I still liked The Backstreet Boys and you weren’t cool if you didn’t have AOL.
We found each other through an online chat room for people with Fibromyalgia, when Jon had just been diagnosed. We continued to talk almost every day for the next seven years. Even though we were 3,000 miles apart, had never met and for a few years had never even seen what the other looked like, Jon was my best friend.
Fast forward to May 2010, Jon and two of his best friends embarked on a cross-country road trip. We planned for them to stay with me for a week, and then I would travel down to San Francisco with them and fly back at the end of the second week. Jon shaved his beard in Spokane because I once told him I didn’t like facial hair. And I put on every outfit in my closet at least twice. And then they were at the door and my mind went blank. Two days, a stuffed buffalo, and a game of spin the bottle later and we were in love.
For the next few months after the trip, we flew back and forth between New York and Seattle as much as we could. Each time we said goodbye though, it got harder. We had originally set an end date for June 2011, after Jon had finished school and we could get a place together. I had made plans to move back in with my family so that I could save up enough money for our move in June. But after Thanksgiving, we knew we couldn’t wait that long. We were both struggling on our own and we needed to be near each other for more than a few days at a time.
Jon’s dad was kind enough to offer to let me stay in the spare bedroom in their home until graduation, and at the end of January, I moved in. I got a great job at Jon’s college and we spent the next few months going on adventures and just enjoying not having to rush all the time because we had no flights to catch and no other lives to get back to.
When summer came, we said goodbye to New York and set off on our own road trip back to Seattle. We spent three weeks on the road, and I would give anything to be living out of the car and sleeping in a different city every night again with him. It was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had. You can read all about our trip here.
In December, Jon took me to the beach where we used to watch the sunset almost every night. We drank wine and enjoyed the cool salty air and the seals barking out on the buoys. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, and my mind went blank just like the first time I saw his face. I can’t wait to be his wife.
And the adventure continues.
