From 'I wish' to 'I will' and 'I do'

Her Perspective

I first met Domingo shortly after I graduating from college. I had just gotten the job at Lawrence Livermore, where Domingo had been working for a few years. I instantly took a liking to him after a brief encounter in the hallway and even thought to myself "I hope I end up with someone like him one day." We worked on different projects and it would be months before our paths crossed again.

Bay area rush hour can be a mess, even for the reverse commute. In an effort to avoid it, we both came to work just after traffic had subsided and stayed until security kicked us out of the building, usually around eight or nine. Being among the few people in the building so late, we would often walk out together. We started going out to get a quick bite after work, which turned into longer dinner discussions and Saturday Stargate watching sessions. He quickly became my favorite person to chat with, to watch the game with, to go shopping with.

Although I liked him from the start, I wasn't sure if he felt anything other than a deeply platonic kinship. We probably would have stayed that way had career ambitions not been pulling me away from Livermore. I didn't want to leave without knowing what could have been. Being one of those people who thinks too much about everything, I formulated a game plan. I mapped out precisely what would be said and how it would go. (I even shared my plan with a few close friends.) That evening, I told myself, before I go home, I will lean in for a kiss. It took several that evenings before I worked up the courage to actually follow through with my plan. I'd love to say what happened next was that wonderful rush one gets from a stolen kiss. Instead it was the sheer panic of pending rejection. I was sure he would push me away, and that would be the end of not only a possible future together, but of our friendship as well. It took me a moment to realize he was kissing me too! Since then we've been inseparable, and I have a much less awkward time stealing a kiss.

He was my best friend first, and my deepest crush always. He is the person I love to travel with, the person I feel comfortable being crazy and silly with. I feel like I've known all along that he was the one.

His Perspective

It's all about candy! A weakness of mine for as long as I can remember. My work areas have long been known as a haven for collections of various incarnations of creamy chocolate goodness. Among it's many amazing qualities, chocolate would ultimately be responsible for introducing me to my future wife.

I had actually known of Sarah's existence for some time. Sarah was well regarded by many members of my work group. She had consistently proven her brilliance as an unparalleled problem solver, and as a result she was a well known resource around the department. Initially, I had very little direct contact with Sarah, but I immediately found her to be smart, bubbly, sweet and very cute.

The fluid nature of business at the lab ultimately brought Sarah directly into my day to day life. Sarah would come to permanently occupy an office on my floor of the building. I would soon learn that Sarah and I shared a similar work schedule. We were consistently the last two individuals to leave work for the day. Sarah's naturally social nature and my bottomless pit of dark chocolate candies proved to be an unstoppable magnetic connection. Sarah really loves dark chocolate, and thus she very quickly became a frequent visitor to my office.

As a result of being the last two out of the building each night, we grew accustomed to chatting about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness on our way back to the parking lot. Our after work conversations eventually led to quick dinners on the way back home. Quick dinners eventually gave way to long after dinner conversations. Before long we were spending the weekends watching science fiction and heading out to eat at our favorite restaurants where the waiters became quite familiar with us. The more time I spent with Sarah, the more I realized just how special she really is.

Sarah would eventually leave the lab and head to graduate school. The door was opened for us to expand our relationship, and expand we did. It has been an amazing year. We have done many things together, but most importantly we have grown as a couple to the point where we want to spend the rest of our lives as man and wife. I do not think I could ever adequately describe how lucky I feel. I will forever owe "Dark Chocolate M&Ms" a debt of gratitude.