I met Sarindee in March 2016, when a few of my buddies made a trip up to D.C. to visit our good friend, Saat. He had arranged a tour of the White House for us, and happened to have 2 extra tickets- being ever mindful of the male-to-female ratio, he invited Sarindee and a friend to join us... So we met, and she was super nice and fun to hang with, but a little too "DC-life" absorbed for my taste. I remember her talking about her job with GPG, big plans to move to New York, her 5-year life plan, yada yada yada...
We had exchanged info, and loosely kept in touch the way millennials know best- the occasional likes on IG and comments on Facebook posts. However, unbeknownst to me, her and one of my friends on the trip, Priya, had kept in touch and become good friends. Priya ultimately made a last-minute decision to invite Sarindee to her and Vikas's wedding in July 2017. And that's when the story really begins.
I distinctly remember driving a U-Haul with one of my best friends, Alex, as he helped me move from Philly back to Chicago- I randomly got a text from Sarindee telling me she's going to be at the wedding and wants to see some of Chicago while she's there.
Game on.
Fast forward to the wedding weekend, where we see each other and catch up. Since I'm literally 1 of 2 people she knows at the wedding besides Prikas, she ends up spending a lot of time around me and the other groomsmen, helping with the dance practices, hanging out, etc. As I get more comfortable, naturally I start sending some feelers-- a couple witty one-liners here, some DMs there, texting her a little more... just going through the playbook, so to speak. And she plays along too so there's definitely some chemistry starting to form.
The Sunday after the wedding, Sarindee's flight isn't until the late evening so we plan to sightsee around Chicago. However, I had to call a last-minute audible because my mom had slipped and hurt her arm at the reception so I wanted to stop home to check on her. I asked Sarindee if that's okay and she's completely fine with it. So here I am bringing home this girl that I'm still very much feeling out, and next thing I know I'm introducing her to my mom, dad, ba, and dada. I still remember my dada immediately sizing her up and down, and then giving his nod of approval with a "hmm, saree dekhai che" (his way of saying she passes the eyeball test). We end up stopping home longer than anticipated and even having lunch there before we left for the city. Guess that's Sarindee for you, whether she means to or not, she has a way of just weaseling her way in to your life. It was a small gesture, but to me it spoke volumes about the type of girl she was.
Ultimately, we make it to downtown Chicago and have a great time together. On the ride to the airport, she decides to play a question game, where we're just taking turns asking each other any and all questions about life, outlooks, etc. It’s the first time we've really had a substantive conversation to that extent. There ends up being an inordinate amount of traffic, even by Chicago standards, and as we're finally reaching O'Hare, I realize 3 things: 1) there's a lot more to Sarindee than meets the eye, and we were actually remarkably aligned in many of our life views, 2) she's cutting it very close and might miss her flight, 3) I wasn't ready to say goodbye to her.
As I drop her off and she starts running to the door to make her flight, I have this sinking feeling that I really should have said or done something. I didn't. Pansy. Well, it turns out the universe was working in my favor that day. No more than 10 minutes into my drive back, I get a call from Sarindee saying they had cut off boarding. Thank you, Spirit Airlines! I whipped the car around and went to go pick her up. We spent the rest of the night talking and getting to know each other more. She ultimately fell asleep on my shoulder while watching a documentary—drool and all.
After she flew back home the following day, I knew I quickly and decisively had to make my move. I remember her telling me one of the things that is most important to her in a relationship was feeling like her significant other makes her a priority. And also how much she loved sweets, especially macarons. So that night I overnight shipped her a box of macaroons from Olivia Macarons in D.C. (which unbeknownst to me, happened to be her favorite). And for the message on the notecard, I wrote, “Because every once in a while, you deserve to be someone's priority too.”
Hook. Bait. Sinker.
We talked incessantly for the next few weeks, and two weeks later, I convinced her to fly back to Chicago to visit. It was a gorgeous Chicago summer weekend—the kind that makes all the dreadful winter ones worth it. We had a night out with all of my friends, and spent the rest of the weekend living our best lives—visiting the Adler, boating on the Chicago river, rooftop bars, driving down lakeshore. I even took her to get her first tattoo that weekend. (fun fact- she told her parents she was coming to Chicago to visit UChicago and Northwestern’s MBA schools. I can only imagine their reaction when she came back home with no further information about either program, but instead a brand new tattoo…)
I fell hard for Sarindee, in a way I never had before. I guess when you know, you know. That weekend, on July 22nd, 2017, I asked her to be my girlfriend. It’s been my greatest adventure yet, and we haven’t looked back since.
In March 2018, she made the plunge and moved to Chicago for me.
On May 18th, 2019, I told her what I’d known for a long time—that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, and asked her to be my wife. (Spoiler alert- she said yes).
And now, on August 28th, 2021, we get to make that official. Surrounded by all the people we love most, in the city where our story first started :)
IYRTITL.
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