It has often been said that one of the great ironies of life is that, in spite of all the time that we spend contemplating the future; the most important events in our lives are almost entirely due to chance. Indeed, it would seem that some of the best things that happen to us are both unplanned and unexpected. This is supposing of course, that we even knew that such events were possible. This was especially true, at least from my perspective, concerning Ashley and I. The fact that Ashley and I ever met at all was due to a series of events that none of us could have foreseen, but for which I am very thankful.

After I graduated from college, I began my career in biotech working for a company that had a program where they would reimburse the costs of classes that were applicable to my job function. Since I was still working full time, I decided to enroll in the Master’s degree program in Electrical Engineering at Santa Clara University, since it was close by. Since I didn’t have an engineering background, having majored in molecular and cell biology and psychology as an undergraduate at Berkeley, I had to take all of the core undergraduate classes…with the undergraduates.

It was in one of these undergraduate classes that I met Ashley’s friends, who introduced me to Ashley, who was in her sophomore year. Despite the fact that she initially struck me as “charming but overly bubbly” , and I struck her as “old and kind of creepy”, we ended up dating each other a year after we initially met, and the rest, as they say, is history. In the end I never finished my degree, but having set out to obtain a graduate degree, and instead having found the light of my life, I tend to think that I did pretty well for myself regardless.

After Ashley graduated from Santa Clara, she went to work for a small business in San Jose. After a few years she decided to pursue a Masters in Accounting, and she returned to Honolulu where she attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Always having been a better student than I, she finished her degree, graduating this past December.

Ashley and I have now been a couple for eight and a half years, and while that may seem like a long time to some, the time feels as if it’s flown by to me. It’s been a steady stream of sushi dinners, impromptu dancing, silly jokes told in funny voices, a cornucopia of cheese, and all around happiness. So when Ashley agreed to marry me a little over a year ago at her mother's home in Honolulu I was more than elated. You might say that all this seems barely believable, and I would tend to agree. I often sit in bed at night, watching Ashley smiling slightly as she sleeps, pinch myself, and marvel at my good fortune. It’s all been more than I could have planned for, and better than I would have dared to dream.

As we now stand poised to enter the next chapter in our lives, Ashley and I would like to thank you for the part you have played in our story thus far. We want to thank you for being a part of our lives, and we want to thank you for your part in making our fairytale a reality.

Love always,

-Allen