Sarah & Brenton
Moss
Denver, Colorado
5/11/19
It was 2010 in India. Sarah was in the country doing research for her job, but she couldn’t get a research permit. In a bind, she stayed the night at a hotel + met a man from Israel named Aton. After conversing for a while, he begged her to come to Darjeeling to meet someone who he said was perfect for her. Sarah was in a relationship, so she insisted that she wasn’t interested. After a while, though, she still couldn’t get any work done, so off to Darjeeling they went.
“When we first dated six years ago, I purchased a ring in Iraq with the intention of giving it to someone so they would know they were there with me,” Brenton recalls. “When we broke up the first time, I told Sarah, ‘I know you’re the person I want to be with, so take this ring + just get rid of it if you ever decide you don’t want to be with me.’ Years later when we got back together, thinking she would have thrown it away by then, I told Sarah I wanted to marry her + asked if she still had the ring. She said she did + it was right with her, so I put it on her finger. I bought her a much prettier one later.”
Brenton had worked with Aton in a remote village. While he was posted up in Darjeeling planning some traveling, he met up with a business partner, and while he was at the building he bumped into Sarah; “I didn’t know who she was, she was just this beautiful person + I was dumbstruck. I didn’t know what to say, so I just said, ‘here’s my cellphone number if you need any help around here.’”
…
As he walked out of the building, he ran into Aton, which was crazy because they were in a whole different part of India, amidst billions of people. But Aton invited him to come hang out at a cafe later. Brenton showed up + spotted Sarah sitting at the table with Aton, thinking, “Oh, I am so lucky.”
They began hanging out more + Brenton ended up cancelling his other travel plans because he was so smitten. But still in another relationship, Sarah remained uninterested, although they were building an amazing friendship. Two years went by + they stayed friends, supporting each other through whatever they were doing.
Of course they had time for some rock paper scissors in the bridal suite–
One day, they randomly saw each other in Boulder. Brenton was in another relationship, but as he was catching up with Sarah, he came to the realization that he loved her. The next day, as Sarah was leaving Colorado, Brenton broke up with his girlfriend, ran to his car, + sped to the airport. He found Sarah in the security line, told her he loved her, and they made out in the middle of DIA security.
Their pup made an appearance for just a few minutes so they could give her some kisses + so she could walk down the aisle, too, of course.
They went on to date for 6 months + both would admit it was a horrible relationship; “we burned it to the ground,” remembers Brenton. “I was a mess,” says Sarah, “I had just gotten out of a relationship + I just wasn’t ready, neither of us was. So we broke up + went our separate ways again. We continued to connect every 6 months or so with 3 hour long phone calls, and Brenton would come out for business once a year + grab a meal together. Many years went by, yet we just had these yearly dinners, I’d be dating someone else or he would be dating someone else, but it was always this really wonderful connection we had.”
“Then, last summer when I saw him, something changed. I all of a sudden felt ready to be with him, ready to have a healthy relationship. So I called him up + asked how he felt about being more than friends. He came out to see me in Baltimore + we were engaged a month later. I sold my house + moved here. It’s been almost a decade in the making, but here we are.”
…
“The ring represented a lot of our past relationship, so we got a new one to represent a fresh start,” Sarah smiled.
…
Something said about Sarah all night is that she is ever-present in her own life, always in the moment. And on her wedding day, she wasn’t any different. The entire day, her + Brenton got to be in the moment, cherishing every guest + living up every moment. They were a bride + groom so radiantly happy + at peace all day.
