...there was a fair lady who was stricken with wanderlust. She journeyed to the frozen northeast where icicles grew as tall as she was. She excavated ancient remains in the middle east, and she visited kauri forests in the land of the long white cloud. She raced down white sand dunes and explored tall skyscrapers, and met with new and old friends and distant relatives. But as time crept on, her gaze turned to the pacific northwest, as she heard the call of her people.

And so it was that she arrived on the Kitsap Peninsula, trading in her snow coat and wide-brimmed sun hat for rainboots and an umbrella. She settled into a small cottage and began caring for the local public servants of the Port of Orchards. Friends new and old surrounded her, and she even adopted a faithful terrier of Yorkshire, dear Flynn the Adorable.

But across the Salish Sea dwelled a curious craftsman—a lord to whom there was more than meets the eye. Industriously he worked, though his mind was bent toward flights of fancy, as though he was searching for something but knew not what. Outwardly quiet and calm but inwardly bursting with colorful creativity, one day his gaze turned across the water and he began to imagine a life across the sea. And so it was that he too arrived on the Kitsap Peninsula, settling into a quirky castle that was but a brief walk away from where the fair lady tended to her people day after day.

But lest you think their meeting was a foregone conclusion, dear reader, know that it took two long years before they were fortunate enough to notice one another. Phone calls that were never made and entering the same buildings from opposite ends kept our protagonists as no more than ships passing in the night. Yet one fateful day, at long last, the lady caught a glimpse of the lord’s likeness and he piqued her interest. When he received her introduction, he was likewise intrigued and only too happy to begin a correspondence. A few weeks later, each laid their quills aside and arranged to meet by the water that had once separated them, using the local totem pole as their landmark for the gathering.

She thought him pleasant to converse with, and he thought her beautiful and kind. It was not long before he knew in his spirit that she was who he had been looking for. And so he held out his hand to her again and again, and she cautiously took it. They discovered a shared love of mysteries and creativity. Though our wandering lady was skeptical and halting, our patient lord was steady and faithful in his quest. He invited her to his quirky castle and introduced her to his family and friends, and as she delved deeper into his life she began to understand the extent of his kindness—as well as his peculiar and therefore fascinating interests!

As the lord led the way, love blossomed between the couple. They attended masked balls and viewed twinkling garden lights. They listened to stories and played games and opened their lives to one another more and more. They fell ill and cared for one another; they leaned on the strengths of the other; through trials and joys they grew in deepening trust.

One day when the summer was beginning to wane, the lord took his lady to a clearing in the woods on a tall hill where they could look far across the land and sea. And in this secluded spot, they danced and reminisced over their shared story. When the time was right, the lord presented the lady with a proposal to join him on life’s journey. You know, dear reader, how she responded. For the echoes of that Yes are still with us today as the date of their union draws ever nearer.

And so it shall be, two years to the day since their meeting at the totem pole, that they shall become Lord and Lady Smith, and seek out the happily ever after that follows their fairy tale.