"I wasn't expecting to fall in love.

After college, I moved to Vietnam to teach English and experience Southeast Asia. I planned to work with kids and travel around for a couple years before returning home. I quickly learned that my Vietnamese language skills were pretty bad and I enrolled in lessons hoping to lose my American accent and upgrade my Vietnamese from 2nd grade to 12th grade. That's how I met Hoa. She was my Vietnamese tutor. When I saw her for the first time I was struck by her poise and beauty. After the second lesson, I was enamored by her free-spirit and kind heart. I spent weeks working up the courage to ask her out. It was a sunny afternoon at the Ethnology museum when I steeled myself and told her my feelings for her. 

Since then, I've been blessed to share in the little and big things with Hoa. Whether it was getting dinner after work, seeing a movie, traveling to Hoi An or Singapore, attending Christmas Mass, ice skating, or transitioning back to the US, she has been a source of constant support, virtue, and companionship. Despite having the same last name, we also found about our many differences and our relationship wouldn't be here today without her patience and endurance. She is the fun and stable complement to my serious and spontaneous nature. I am so lucky to enter this next phase in life with Hoa."