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Mariam & Jay || A Sunrise Engagement At The Lilly House Manor – Indianapolis Museum of Art

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August 29, 2017

 


Over and over again couples have told me,
“…that was good for us.”
Taking time to just reconnect,
to linger in each other’s arms and whisper hopes & dreams,
is really the heartbeat of each engagement session.

Capturing this time that you’re head-over-heels in love is meaningful.
But I care more about documenting the story that’s unfolding:
You’re planning a wedding and that’s stressful at times.

Yet, no matter what’s going on, you refocus on what matters: each other. 
Two people committing to forever loving well.

That’s a story worth telling.

Meet: Mariam & Jay.
A couple whose tenderness makes time stand still.  They are a couple marked by a selflessness that is all too rare. Mariam & Jay admire and support each other’s dreams. Their love is gracious, intentional, and contagious.

Also, they’re basically models…

Mariam & Jay’s love story paired with the historic Lilly House Manor, in Indianapolis, and the magic of sunrise & donuts made our time together one for the books.

Listen while you scroll (click here)

Mariam and I met at 23rd and Main.
It was a blind date in a group of about 8 people.
Introductions were barely concluded before there was a flurry of chairs
and Mariam was sitting next to me. 

Most people in our group were wearing t-shirts and shorts.
But Mariam was dressed for a grand ball.  

I was smitten with her dark pretty eyes
and (then) bushy eyebrows.
She was quiet. 

I took the opportunity to fill the silence with some pieced-together observations
that I imagine I will continue to regret
through the re-tellings to our hypothetical snickering children.  

We continued to see each other.
She was progressively less quiet. 

I would only later learn that she is almost always ready for adventure
(and usually a formal one).
She says she is the female Robin Williams (which she is),
but I think maybe she’s also the female James Bond.  

We just had a great time together.
I met her family whom I came to love.
And she met mine and has been a great hit. 

Throughout our relationship, I’ve learned a few things…
1. Mariam is a lot of fun and is the funniest woman I’ve ever met
2. She is uncomfortably observant and has a prodigious memory
3. We generally had similar opinions/interpretations of events
4. She is strong-willed and every once in a while I wish she really was as shy as she seemed the first time we met.  

And now, I can’t imagine my life without Mariam.
Or without khoreshteh aloo and fessenjoon (Persian Stew). 

I am just so excited about life
with the fancy girl – the one with the (once) bushy eyebrows…” 

Jay and I met at 23rd and Main.
From our first introductions I soon learned that…

1. He was wearing a new shirt
2. He was a urology resident (and I thought ugh why urology??? that’s the worst!)
3. He was very animated in discussing his curious choice of profession. 

I had decided I wasn’t too interested but that Jay definitely was
…so when he suddenly popped up and left without asking for my information,
I was left with a similar confusion to his arrival in the first place.

“Did he just forget to ask me out?  Strange…”

Two days later, he showed up to my unit in the hospital
with a gift of scrubs as I was coming onto my night shift.

I thought it was really cute that he remembered the night I worked.
He asked me out to dinner for the following day
and since I was still on orientation, the entire exchange was fast.
He left after muttering a few mostly unintelligible words.

Dinner went okay… but I wasn’t sure how interested I was
and he paid in what looked like spare change.

I decided that was the last date because I didn’t want to waste his money.

I lived at home at the time and told my mom there wouldn’t be a second date.

…but my mom kept insisting that I at least tell her his name.
Finally I gave in and remember saying, “OKAY, it’s Jay Sulek.”

Immediately, my mom knew who he was.

She is a nurse practitioner and had just interviewed & shadowed for the day at the VA. Jay happened to be at the VA the same time.

Unbeknownst to him, Jay had held all the doors for my mother and had an excellent bedside manner – which she immediately noticed.

My mom later told me that as she watched Jay work that day,
she had thought to herself,
“Someone is lucky to have him as a husband.
And I prayed that you (Mariam)
would find a man as gentle, polite, and focused as him.”

Jay was awarded many points for that unknown act of kindness in my mind.
So I gave him a second chance.

I went on another date.
And we had a great time together.

As we continued seeing each other I learned…

1. Jay is the most unassuming, generous and fair person I’ve ever met. If the world didn’t have surveillance or regulation he’d still follow the rules.

2. He’s erudite and we have common life goals.
3. He balances me out and completes me.

And really, there’s literally no one in the world I’d rather do life with than Jay! 

Mariam & Jay,
“Thank you” is never enough to convey the depth of gratitude we have for you two and the opportunity of walking alongside you. Engagement is fun. But Marriage is wonderful – we can’t wait to celebrate that with you
…ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!

*Cue all the confetti & Persian dancing!

Always,
–Tara M (and Stephen)

 

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