There we were. At the theatre.

Donovan was managing The Pico Playhouse, a black box theatre located down the street from the Sony Lot. All the while Howie was working as a small part in a running play called, "Stockholm."

Howie was planning on moving back to Atlanta soon after the run of show. So much like any other meet-cute in a romantic comedy, she met a boy right as she was about to start packing.

On the flip side, Donovan had just re-entered the dating world after recovering from donating a kidney. Was he looking for a serious girlfriend right off the bat? No. Did he accidentally get one anyway? Yes.

Weeks and months went by. Howie found herself spending more time at Donovan's apartment than at her current accommodations in the middle of nowhere Van Nuys. Not only was her commute to work from Van Nuys over an hour each way, but Howie was 110% certain the house she was living in was haunted. Not in a fun way.

All these factors lead Donovan to offer Howie stay at his apartment until Howie found a new place.

Mind you, this was around January of 2020. And we all know what came next. A lot of coughing. A lot of masks. And enough hand sanitizer to give yourself a third degree burn.

Boom. March 2020. There we were again. Growing tomatoes and reading a gratuitous amount of books.

Fast forward to 2023. Around some time in the winter Donovan looked at Howie and thought to himself, "I'd like to marry this little Tasmanian devil of a woman. She'd make a great mom."

(All the while Howie knew pretty early on she would marry Donovan but it's more fun when the guy believes it was all his idea)

Soon enough Howie turned around in a gazebo up in the mountains to see Donovan down on one knee. She hardly remembers what he said, but despite blacking out she knew the answer before he even asked.

It was Yes.

Registry