My aperture ring box, Ordinary Wednesdays and a story about love.

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, but… you know… life. Also I’m a relatively private person when it comes to my personal life, so sharing such things isn’t the most comfortable thing for me. But, here we go!

In Chicago I met a boy and he’s been making me laugh ever since we first shared Korean tacos and beer together. He’s why we’re living in California now – experiencing sunshine and fresh produce and long drives along the ocean lately – instead of snow, traffic and miserable commutes. We eat together, cheer on our favorite football teams together, cook together, travel together, walk together and dream together. And we knew relatively quickly that we were each others forever. Sapppy sappy sappy. I know!

Here’s the thing about this kid – he’s smart and creative, stubborn and determined – just like me. He’s also genuinely sensitive and sentimental and I love him every day for all of that and more. 

In August, in a now somewhat internet famous story, he took me on a drive to Costco (though I didn’t know then thats where we were heading) on an Ordinary Wednesday, and through tears and trembling hands was all “Wanna get married?!” and I was all “!!!!!!!!!!!!”. (I’m paraphrasing to keep this short!). He blew me away with the ring box he made me and I’ve been meaning to show it off since! Maybe you caught the story on reddit or the Looks Like Film Blog or BoredPanda or Design Taxi or DIY Photography or PetaPixel. Yeah… it went kind of viral. 

But for as much attention as it got, the best part of this story isn’t the box he made. Or the 60+ hours of love that went into designing and making it. It’s the ring.

Matt gave me his grandmothers ring when he proposed to me in that Costco parking lot. I missed meeting her by barely a week and I think about it quite often. She passed away shortly before Christmas last year. At her funeral and the days leading up to it, I got to hear amazing stories about this matriarch who was, most certainly, the head of the family. I think we would have gotten along splendidly. I think she would have liked me, and I know I would have loved her. 

On his 29th birthday his grandparents called and left an adorable voicemail for Matt, wishing him Happy Birthday. They sang together and argued about how to pronounce my name, and disagreed on how old he was – and we listened to that message many times. He teared up each time. I couldn’t wait to meet them both, but especially Gaga. The first person to hold my Matthew when he was born, and someone he shared a special connection with his entire life. 

Every time I look at Gaga’s ring, my ring – every time I twirl it around my finger to make sure it’s still there, I think about this wonderful woman who gave me this wonderful man and I smile.