Shell Street
For most of our lives there was a country and often an ocean between us but when we met in late 2018 we had tiny matching “beach caves” just 75 feet apart. We had our first real chat seated on plastic burros around a fire at the notorious Johnston Chili Cook Off and met a couple weeks later to watch the sunset under the guise of “ocean reading lessons”. We met one evening for a glass of wine and it quickly became difficult to imagine spending an evening any other way. Kaylee was immediately drawn to Mike’s mind, to his integrity, gentleness and sincerity. It was very early when she recognized that this man embodied the things she valued most… Mike was eventually able to control his drooling and form intelligible sentences again, and that’s when he found that he was incredibly impressed with Kaylee's kindness and empathy, her authenticity and her honest and intriguing sense of wonder. Amidst a string of nights full of long, deep conversations and devoid of sufficient sleep, he realized that he might just have a shot at this one. As it turns out, it wasn't just the sleep deprivation.
To Will & Kit
In July we decided to ring shop. Our interests are so consistently aligned that we might have been a bit surprised to find ourselves at odds when imagining the perfect ring. Kaylee pictured the iconic, historic physical representation of American romance, a Tiffany ring, while Mike categorically abhorred sheepishly participating in any artificially inflated market when an objective scale and market value could easily be determined. We decided we loved each other more for this and went vintage shopping. At a gorgeous local shop Mike picked a ring Kaylee expected to hate. She tried it on, loved it and the shop owner said, “that’s a 1930’s Tiffany & Co. ring.”
In early September Mike surprised Kaylee with a weekend at a resort overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Before dinner he took her on a sunset walk on the cliffs and found several scenic, private places only to be descended upon by picnickers, walkers and a band playing “A Boy Named Sue”. Finally, he found a totally isolated rocky ledge at the water’s edge. He got down on one knee, proposed, Kaylee said yes and immediate applause rang out from a line-up of pre-teen boys who had climbed over the rocks just in time to enhance the moment.
After looking closely, we noticed the ring was engraved: “Will & Kit”. We spent some time talking about Will and Kit and how it might have come to be that we have their ring. Now we bring them everywhere, frequently fantasizing about what Will & Kit did when they were here, or when they did this very fun thing, etc. They are also exceptionally helpful examples of ideal marital behavior. For example, “I don’t think Will would talk that way to Kit” or “I’m pretty sure Kit would love it if Will did that.”
