The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged those working in the medical field.
One professional healthcare worker, wishing to be known as Kim, was exposed to the coronavirus two days before her birthday last month. That forced her to self-quarantine at home with her boyfriend in central Illinois.
However, little did Kim know that her boyfriend, Jeremy Dabbs, was planning to propose to her on her birthday.
"It certainly wasn't what I had in mind," recounted Dabbs. "On Mother's Day, I was just relaxing and drinking my morning coffee, when I got a call from her telling me not to go see anyone because we were going to have to quarantine together after she was exposed."
Dabbs was unsure if he should carry on with his proposal plan while he and his girlfriend were stuck quarantined at home.
"I had some doubts at first, just because I wanted it to still be special. But eventually I just said, 'You know what, let's do it,' and I decided to go-ahead with the proposal on the day I had originally planned."
There certainly were no shortgages of kinks in Dabbs' plan along the way.
"There were a lot of ways that being quarantined at home together made things easier for me to propose, but that doesn't mean it came without stress," Dabbs qualified. "It definitely made talking to her parents about it easier, since it turned out having to be over a video call. But the whole process of getting the ring was much harder and stressful."
Dabbs recalled his process of virtual ring-shopping.
"Because everything was closed, I had to shop for the ring online. It was really stressful and difficult dealing with all of that, just with not being able to actually see it in-person, and only being able to virtual-message back-and-forth with the jeweler and all."
Due to the circumstances, Dabbs was unable to have a photographer with him to capture the moment.
"Another big adjustment was figuring out the logistics of proposing, because I wanted to get it on video," he said. "But that got kind of complicated when it became just the two of us."
Kim recalled the moment it finally happened: "He was acting different than normal for sure. He said he wanted to take a picture in our backyard, which was very unusual for him. Then I saw him put the phone in the cupfolder of our lawn-chair and I said 'Oh, this is it,' and it was."
"Luckily, I got a yes," Dabbs remarked.
Kim and Jeremy have set a tentative wedding date for October 2021.
We’re living in unprecedented times when information changes by the minute. WGLT will continue to be here for you, keeping you up-to-date with the live, local and trusted news you need. Help ensure WGLT can continue with its in-depth and comprehensive COVID-19 coverage as the situation evolves by making a contribution.
