For 2 years, they have been a long-distance couple. In June 2022, to launch her profession, Ms. Hopfer accepted a job as a labor and supply nurse in Pittsburgh. However “the purpose was all the time to reside collectively,” she mentioned. Then M. Graham labored as a medical assistant and took programs at a group school. “It really works as a result of we did it,” M mentioned. Graham.
In 2023 Mrs. Hopfer transitioned from breastfeeding to working with moms of stillborn infants as a bereavement doula. However she knew she would finally return to breastfeeding. On the finish of that yr, she accepted her present job within the obstetrics division of the Maryland Hospital.
First, she moved into the home in Vienna that M. Graham shared with roommates. When the lease of M. Graham expired six months later, in June 2024, they discovered their very own residence in Vienna. Earlier than shifting in, they began speaking about marriage.
On June 17, 2024 M. Graham proposed to Ms. Hopfer throughout a weekend journey to Savannah, Ga., with a diamond engagement ring that Ms. Hopfer’s late grandfather, a jeweler, had put aside for her. A month later, Mrs. Hopfer proposed to M. Graham in Pittsburgh’s Mellon Park with one other ring her grandfather had put aside for her grandson’s marriage ceremony.
The couple’s Jan. 3 marriage ceremony on the courthouse lacked the variety of festivities they deliberate for June in Forrest, Va., however not by a lot. As a substitute of 25 visitors, 10 watched as they exchanged vows earlier than Decide George Barber, chief of the Washington, D.C., department of the wedding bureau
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The temper they have been capable of create in a spot meant to really feel extra formal than romantic, they each mentioned, was one in every of pure love. Every handwritten vow learn bolstered their dedication and rules. M. Graham promised to be a protected haven for Ms. Hopfer.
Mrs. Hopfer additionally promised safety, in love and in life. “I promise to all the time select you,” she mentioned, “even when the world round us feels unsure.”
