A ring on our fingers

So this happened.

Jayda and I met three years ago during a staff appreciation/Beer Chasers Wednesday night at Birch and Barley. A few weeks later, we both ended up at Stanley Hot Springs and spent the weekend talking to each other. The weekend ended when I drove her home. I had hopes, but my own timid self prevented me from asking her out.

Fortunately, Jayda made the effort. On the next Wednesday, we chatted over beers, went to Black Cypress for cocktails, and just like that, we were dating. Two days later, I cooked her dinner (a too-spicy stir fry), and we’ve basically not been apart since.

When my dad died, she watched my house when I flew home for a week. When I returned, she was at the airport waiting for me. It was then that we were no longer just dating; we were living together. There was no sensing in her moving back, I justified.

While we have been essentially “married” for a while now, it’s nice that we’re finally married in the legal sense.

Life.

Love.

Future. Even in the modern COVID era, life together is life lived. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Those that know me knew right away that she had me. She’s changed me. It started right away.

After a 5 minute ceremony officiated by my best friend, it was off to a winery for dinner, drinks, and merriment. It is the same now, but different. Each morning, I wake, look to my left, and smile. I plan on doing this for a long long time.