In August 2020, I (Rin) moved across the country to LA without much of a plan. I scrambled to find a job and was hired at a small construction company, with one other coworker… Miki’s mom. Ronit and I grew close in that time working together, and after 6 months she invited me to come to Las Vegas on a family trip. “It’ll be great, Miki will come pick you up and you can drive over with his sister and her friend,” she said. Miki and I fell hard for each other & we were engaged 14 months later!

There are so many to choose from, but one that sticks out in particular is the very first time we went out to a show together after I underwent surgery to remove a melanoma tumor and a lymph node in my leg (skin cancer). I was about a month into recovery and getting used to using a walker. I was scared of going anywhere and trying to dance with a mobility aid, but Miki made me feel like the whole evening was just a huge celebration, and I barely remembered why I was worried in the first place.

What we would really love to do is have a do-over wedding party. That sounds frivolous, but 3 weeks after we were engaged, I was diagnosed with cancer and we postponed wedding planning. After I recovered, my dad got the same type of cancer, and we realized we just couldn’t delay anymore. We planned our wedding thousands of miles from LA, 20 min from my dad’s so he could attend. He lost his battle on September 25, a month before our wedding on Oct 29, 2023. We wish we had more time.