The year was 2020: bright with promise and full of hope. With several friends, Jared caught a plane from the USA to participate in an intensive training program. I agreed to be the main cook. Amy was one of the students. Sweet, fun and pretty, she was a favourite with everyone. Especially Jared. It didn’t take long for the special connection between the two to become the topic of happy conversations and knowing smiles.
Before long, the program came to a grinding halt as the world was startled by sudden talk of lockdowns and closed borders. Tickets were purchased immediately and Jared and his friends bailed within days. What would happen to the beginnings of this love story? When would they see each other again? For Amy in Victoria, one lockdown simply rolled into another and another.
Then after nearly two years it was possible to be together again in-person. I don’t know all the inside details, but I suspect Jared stepped foot on Australian soil again as soon as he realised he could.
A few trips back and forth by each of them and it’s now January 2023. I see Jared and Amy again at the same venue we were all at back in 2020. And I secretly wonder, when is he ever going to pop the question?
Well, I didn’t have long to wait to find out. A few weeks later I received a message from Amy, requesting a couple’s session. She didn’t tell me why, just yet, but I was excited all the same. At church, their engagement was announced. Now I was more thrilled than ever.
Can you blame me, when one gets to capture a sweet, sweet love like theirs?
And, and, and wouldn’t you agree that the views of the Valley of a Thousand Hills, not far from Seymour, Victoria is the perfect epic backdrop?!
Christella xx