The Love Story of:
Melissa Salmon & James Etie

You typically shouldn't pretend to be married to a stranger that you just met minutes earlier. It probably won't get you more than an eye roll from the unwilling bystander. Unless, of course, you happen to be James and Melissa, with whom all rules of love are defied and real magic happens.

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On the first night that James met Melissa, he introduced her as his wife to a friend that he hadn't seen in awhile. They had only just met a few hours earlier, at the birthday party of a mutual friend, but they already felt incredibly comfortable with each other right from the start - comfortable enough even to joke that they were married. This trivial moment of foreshadowing sparked the initiation of their whirlwind romance, and eventual engagement, just a mere 15 months later, but we'll get to that in a bit.

After being introduced as his wife, Melissa, being a good sport, responded with, "If we're married, then where's my ring?" Searching for a logical reason as to why he wouldn't have hypothetically gotten her a ring, James jokingly replied, "I got you a green Mercedes instead." Which, of course, also wasn't the case, but for some reason, were the first words out of his mouth. That seemed to do the trick, and she secretly held him to that promise. The rest of the night the two were by each other's side, laughing like they had known eachother for years, and James made sure that he didn't leave the party without getting her number. He wanted to play it cool and not scare her off, so he decided not to contact her too soon -- that was, until 10 minutes later, when Melissa texted him, asking him if he had made it home safely.

James planned their first date, and two days later they found themselves out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. One of the first moments Melissa knew she was falling in love with James was because of that night. Just two bites into dinner, she came down with a horrible bug, and felt like she was getting the flu. Melissa began feeling worse by the second, so James volunteered to cut their dinner short, and take her home so she could get some rest. Melissa was miserable the entire next day, until she received a text from James that told her to check her doorstep, because he had left something for her. To her complete shock, waiting for her was a "get well" basket filled with warm chicken noodle soup, bubble bath, orange juice, tissues and cold medicine. Melissa was both stunned and overwhelmed with gratitude, for this person she had just met, to care so much about her so soon -- and in that moment she knew James wasn't like any other man she'd ever met before.

"I called my friends to ask if this actually happens in real life, because this is something you only see in movies!" - Melissa

"Right then I knew I had her hooked." - James

"In that moment, I knew that this was real. I knew this person was genuine." - Melissa

From that day on, Melissa and James were on each other's minds, and in each other's hearts unceasingly. He introduced her to sport bike racing, dirt bikes, and motorcycle trips. Their love grew stronger as they ventured to new places, planned spontaneous weekend getaways, and spent many nights snuggled up in pajamas binging on Netflix shows. In fact, one of the reasons James knew she was the one, was when Melissa could watch hours of Battlestar Galactica, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek, and absorb them like a sponge. But, if he really had to pinpoint the very first moment that he knew he loved her, it was at the first motorcycle race track day that he took her to.

"It was the first race of mine that I took her to, and I couldn't believe how into it she was. She was having so much fun and fit in so well, like she had been doing this forever. It just made me think, 'Oh wow, I love her!'" - James

They quickly made weekly motorcycle rides a tradition, and looked forward to the long drives, connected only by the intercom in their helmets, and the same seat cushion. Between coffee runs, searching for the best restaurants in the city, cooking new dishes, and getting weekly massages, their shared interests led Melissa and James to not only be in a relationship, but to truly become best friends.

In the summer of 2015, after six months of dating, James and Melissa embarked on their first big getaway together: a motorcycle road trip out west with nothing but a backpack and a tent. Between driving through sweltering 100 degree heat, and camping in a Native American teepee with field mice, they had plenty to complain about, but they never fought once. It was then that Melissa realized she could do anything, and go anywhere with James, and never want to turn back or go home. Home became wherever they were, as long as they were together.

"I sat on the back of a motorcycle in blistering heat for days with this man, and I never wanted to go home, and I never once complained. No matter the circumstances, I was happy because I was with the right person." - Melissa

James knew their relationship was the real, til-death-do-us-part kind of love during a specific moment of that trip. After a particularly nasty hot spell of 107 degrees, by pure luck, they found an oasis called Spearfish Canyon to take refuge at. Formed by a glacier that cut a path through the towering rock, the canyon was a shaded, cool sanctuary with gorgeous trails, green, lush foliage and babbling brooks and waterfalls. As they walked through the manicured trails together, James knew that he finally had what he'd been searching for for a very long time.

"All of the sudden I was looking back at the past years of my life. I was always looking and never finding. But, suddenly to find this woman who enjoys all the same things I do, was too perfect. It was a point where everything came together - what I was searching for, and what I had found, collided. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her." - James

They both considered South Dakota their favorite trip of all time together, and made a pact to visit Spearfish Canyon annually. But little did Melissa know, an equally memorable trip was right around the corner.

Registry

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