I’d like to share an incredible announcement with all of you. This past weekend, on the shores of beautiful Lake Tahoe, with the mountains that I grew up visiting through all my childhood in the background, and on a gorgeous late summer afternoon, I stood up on my own in a walker, and asked my amazing girlfriend Brita to marry me.
After realizing that I wasn’t joking, she shook aside the surprise and disbelief, stood next to me, eye to eye (a position we have only recently been able to enjoy) and said YES.
As all of you know, the accident that I suffered two years ago tragically changed my life and forced me to enter a world I had never expected. My career, my physical abilities, my independence and everything I had known until then were thrown into limbo with no explanation or resolution that any of it could come back to me or improve in any way possible. However, my ability to love, be loved and recognize the qualities of a truly one of a kind person were not compromised.
Brita and I (being introduced on an old-school blind date) had only met four months before my Spinal Cord Injury, which occurred while she was abroad finishing her graduate studies. When she came back to the US and saw me in the hospital, I immediately told her that I gave her full approval to move on from me, that this situation was going to be so incredibly arduous and challenging (and I didn’t even know the half of it….) that I had zero expectation or resentment towards her if she chose to let our relationship go. She had a green light….and she didn’t take it. She shook her head and emphatically and unhesitatingly told me that she wasn’t going anywhere, that she was in it for the long haul.
Throughout this time, she has been the biggest source of support for me, constantly listening to my rants and frustrations, praising my accomplishments and unequivocally maintaining the faith that I will get back on my feet, even when I question my own faith and hope. I truly believe that because of this experience, we have gotten to know each other on an entirely different level, and that’s why I had no hesitation that I wanted her to be my partner for life.
I had held a secret for the last few months that I shared with no one. I told myself that once I could stand, I would propose to this beautiful woman. Well the secret is out. It means so much to me to be able to have done this standing up, at eye level, and with the confidence that the hard work I’ve put in the last two years has paid off.
I’ll stop there as I could go on forever, but a big thanks to all of you who have supported me through this time. I’m honored to share this with you. And a huge thank you to everyone who helped me plan this special day and for our friends who were there that day, hiding in the trees and taking photos from afar and making this a truly memorable moment.
Much love and gratitude