Joy grew up in a pretty remote part of India with a dream of travelling the world. Little did she know that starting around her 15th birthday she would embark on a journey that would eventually lead to her meeting Alex.
But first, the entire family packed up their entire lives in half a dozen suitcases and made their way to Houston.
Alex was born outside of Denver, Colorado, and he moved a number of times before settling in Texas in the 4th grade. As a teenager, Alex joined a group of other likeminded teenagers called PASA, or the Politically Active Student Association.
Little did he know, a regular member of the group would bring their best friend Joy to a meeting.
Joy and Alex attended separate high schools and were oblivious to each other's existence.
There was no meet-cute or love at first sight in this story. They first met at a PASA (Politically Active Students Association) meeting in a local coffeehouse. They barely noticed each other for weeks and months at these meetings. It was not until a fateful party is when they started having a conversation and noticed that they actually had a few things in common.
It took the both of them another couple of years of being friends to realize that they really like each other.
Starting to date came easy to the both of them since they had a strong foundation built on friendship. This was around the time Alex graduated from College and Joy graduated a year later.
During their time together, they shared plenty of laughs, tears, movies, road trips and concerts. But everything good comes to an end and so did this.
Alex was getting established in his career in social work, helping victims of domestic abuse get back up on their two feet, while Joy was busy trying to become a CPA and start establishing herself as well.
Alex had become her study buddy even though he didn't know or understand a lick of accounting. After 2 years of studying she passed!
However, her passing the CPA was bittersweet as her time in the US was coming to a close. Yet for a second time Joy packed her bags, and bid a teary farewell to Alex and moved to Canada.
They hit the pause button on their relationship, but continued their friendship. Alex and Joy chatted everyday on FaceTime. She had an established routine of calling her mom on the way home from work and then calling Alex everyday.
This continued for a couple of years until Alex and Joy fell into old habits. Very quickly after, Alex made a plan to move to Canada.
In September, 2018, Alex rented a U-Haul and made a trip across the country and moved to Canada! It was an exciting time for both of them.
Alex attended Joy's sister's wedding and Joy was relieved that her large family did not overwhelm Alex, so she knew if he could survive that then he will stand by her through anything.
It was exactly a year after her sister's wedding when they both flew to Toronto that Alex, tricked Joy into going to a wine tasting and in front of family (and strangers) proposed. (You should ask them how this trickery actually played out!)
If you ask Joy, she will tell you that she is not sure if he popped the question or not, all she remembers was Alex saying "Hey Joy....." and she saw him on one knee with a ring.
After over a decade of friendship, of exchanging cute puppy photos/videos, of laughter, of tears, surviving a long distance relationship and a pandemic....she accepted his proposal with tears in her eyes.
The past few years has been a rollercoaster of events! But nothing phases them...they have been through it all, everything else is going to be a breeze!