The dating app notifies me, it's a match! I see a picture of Shruti and Milo (her dog). I tell Shruti that Milo was cute and that I wanted to borrow him. She tells me that Milo is extremely stubborn, poorly behaved, a professional howler, spoiled, unappreciative, very loud, and most importantly allowed to get away with everything. I figure if Shruti's standards are this low, I have a great chance! I'm thankful Shruti 'swiped right' on me that day. Fast forward a couple weeks to our first date at the UCD Arboretum, the first of many two plus hour drives in our semi-long-distance relationship. We instantly felt comfortable around each other. What I remember most is Shruti saying that she was attending the #1 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) School in the World, UC Davis, and later making lots of jokes about her telling me this on the first date even though the first thing I did when I got home was fact check her on U.S. News and World Report. Milo wants to jump into my car at the end of the date and it was at that point it was a sign this was meant to be…
Anand knew a memorable proposal was very important to me and he delivered! Little did I know how much top-secret planning was going on behind the scenes...
Let it be known that I am used to living in scrubs and anything more takes a lot of effort...which made Anand and my family's life much harder. Anand and my father finally came up with a reasonable explanation: someone else's wedding! Early on November 21, 2020, using his friend's wedding in San Francisco as an excuse to dress up, Anand's stress began.
Anand's elaborate plan included a trip to Marin for 'pictures with the wedding party' before said wedding. We drove into Marin headlands where we had been hiking before with Milo and Anand asked me to follow him down a steep, graveled trail (in 5 inch heels). I was 100% convinced that Anand was lost, since historically his sense of direction has not been the most reliable. I repeatedly asked if he was sure about where he was going. I even asked if I could just turn around and wait in the car while he continued down the path to make sure we were going the right way. Luckily he convinced me to keep going.
As we reached the end of the trail, there were beautiful coastal views and Anand asked if I wanted him to take a few pictures of me to mark the occasion. This in and of itself is very uncharacteristic, which should have been a red flag but luck was on Anand's side and I remained oblivious. A few candid shots of me looking the other way, Anand asked me to turn around to face him. Seeing him on one knee with a beautiful ring in his hand, I was so surprised that later I couldn't remember if he had actually asked me the big question!
Anand's detailed plan went off without a hitch and here we are now!
