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Just a small-town Canadian girl who took a midnight train going anywhere…
(Maybe not a train. More of a road trip across Canada with my parents. I do like trains though.)
(Maybe not anywhere, but in particular: Washington State, New Jersey, Philly, New York, Philly again, and now Saint Louis.)
Like Ryan Gosling, and other great people, I hail from the True North. Unlike most celebrities, I come from the Midwest of Canada, aka the prairies, aka Winnipeg, Manitoba. You’ve likely only ever heard of it if you are 1) Icelandic, as one fifth of the Icelandic population has immigrated to Winnipeg, or 2) follow hockey. Unfortunately, the Winnipeg Jets transferred to Phoenix during my early childhood, so no, I’m not a big hockey fan. I do like Manchester United, tea, and The Crown, so the Commonwealth remains strong with me. I’m in love with French speaking places and countries, so Montreal and France are constantly calling to me, and it possibly explains my affinity for New Orleans and how I ended up in Saint Louis (or as the French say, and no Midwesterner ever did: ‘seInt lwi).
(Yes, I once pronounced Baton Rouge, “ba tahn roozh,” instead of “battin’ rooj.” Yes, I was laughed at.)
And I don’t have to fill out any more “likes and dislikes” profiles, because I’m getting married to the love of my life.
Travis and I met at the For The City gala fundraiser for Liberti Church in Philadelphia. We competed over how much food we could consume. We nerded out over my dictionary clutch; yes, it’s literally a handbag shaped like a dictionary. I do appreciate good English.
We then went on a non-date, a swing dance lesson on a snowy day, after our mutual friend cancelled on us. The only reason I didn’t cancel too was 1) it was only a block away from my place, and 2) when I asked whether Travis wanted to take a rain check until a time that our friend could come, he said he still wanted to go. I thought that was strange, but I had a fantastic time. Then, we went to a Sixers game with another couple, where after every basket, I pondered whether it was a friend hang or a date. It was indeed a date.
From there, it progressed with twist and turns. He had never anticipated meeting me right before he planned to quit his job and travel the world, and I hadn’t anticipated anything serious in my life, midway through fellowship. But through the challenges of extremely long distances and multiple time zones, we managed to make it work.
And though we never planned to move to the Midwest, when a great job fell into my lap, he made the move with me to Saint Louis. And though two years ago at the church fundraiser, though neither of us could have anticipated it, on a cool, moonlit evening in front of the reflecting lake at the Art Museum in January, he proposed to me. And you know what? We can never be fully prepared for what the rest of our life will bring us, but it’s sure to be an adventure we’ll have together.
