Our journey began at Medlock Ames working as interns for the harvest of 2016. However, I wouldn’t really call it a “harvest”, for we only processed what seemed to be 20% of the actual grapes we were expected to. A typical day of harvest should be around 10-14 hour days of pretty laborious work. That was most definitely not the case for ours! Anyways, I remember meeting Madeline on the first day of our internship (along with Mr. Alex Flores, our fellow intern, a very dear friend, and the officiant of our wedding!), and I was head over heels from that very moment onward. With all of the extra time on our hands, we would really get to know each other during our two-hour lunches and just having an absurd amount of free time in general, playing Molkky, chatting out in the garden of Medlock Ames' amazing property, and times spent outside of work over a post-shift beverage. I knew pretty early on that I wanted ask her to be my girlfriend, but I wanted to keep things “professional” and wait until after the internship was over, and boy I did not wait very long to do so! We were on a hike at Annadel State park, and I wasn’t on planning on asking her that day, but we were sitting on a bench halfway up the hike and I decided to shoot my shot. And the rest is history!
Since then, we've shared nearly 7 amazing years that have been full of wonderful memories: countless trips to the ocean; copious amounts of amazing meals and drinks at our favorite restaurants; moving into our first house together in Penngrove; and, after rescuing our dog Reggie from Taiwan, whom we love with our whole hearts, I decided to ask Madeline to be my wife at one of our favorite wineries, Toulouse Vineyards, up in Anderson Valley surrounded by our best friends in quite the torrential downpour! I cannot wait to tie this knot surrounded by all we love, let's PARTY!
My first impression of Paul was on the first day of harvest at Medlock Ames; he and Alex Flores, our soon-to-be officiant, rolled up in Paul’s blue Subaru, the Blue Dolphin, (most likely) blasting The Beatles, essentially all Flores played when he was in charge of the music. I arrived at the crush pad absurdly early, questioning what I had signed myself up for, to witness what would turn out to be Paul whipping through the parking lot, gravel spraying everywhere, both boys laughing, clearly without any first day nerves.
Despite telling the Assistant Winemaker that it was my first harvest as I ogled at pumps, clamps, tanks, and various other machinery that seemed devoid of intuition, he insisted I would be able to “figure things out”. Thankfully, Paul graciously helped me until I learned. That is, until I broke the number one (and seemingly only) rule of harvest: do not break the Anton Paar (a VERY expensive tool). Once he and Flores learned of this travesty, they immediately proceeded to place stickers such as “Please Paardon Madeline for she has sinned” and “No Anton-Paarking” literally everywhere. Seriously, I continued to find new stickers for months. As the only girl on the entire facility, it was clear to coworkers and tourists of the winery alike that I was the butt of a very expensive and deeply mortifying joke.
As harvest carried on, we realized that we had much in common, from sports teams, to a degree from Cal Poly, and even family friends. We had ample time to learn about each other during a notoriously slow harvest, where we would play lawn games on our 90 minute plus lunches, and after work at our favorite local watering holes: AVB and Bergamot (if you know, you know).
Our first dates were casual, but offered insight into the kind of man Paul is: a picnic at Goat Rock, dinner at Lee’s Noodle House, hikes around the county. They were simple, but thoughtful. I was immediately drawn to Paul’s light-hearted nature. He is confident but not arrogant, quick to laughter but not to judgement, and social but not shallow. He is patient, thoughtful, and curious, all of which have been put to the test when we not only moved in together, but adopted a rescue pup from Taiwan, and endured years of my hospital stays, all within the confines of the pandemic.
To know Paul is to love him, and that I do very much.