Who: Sasha Colby, 35, HR manager; Erin Nelson, 36, office manager
Relationship status: Together since 2011
Location: Victoria
Two fish in a pond
Sasha: We met on Plenty of Fish, which is kind of the bottom of the barrel in terms of dating sites. It’s free, so all the freaks are on there.
Erin: And some gems.
Sasha: Right, and some gems. Erin and I started chatting, but she is the world’s biggest introvert. It was hard to draw her out at first.
Erin: I was also not entirely out of the closet at the time. We chatted online for almost six months before we met in person. Our first date was at a karaoke bar with a bunch of Sasha’s friends. Suddenly this guy gets on stage and of course he’s the only other person I ever got together with through Plenty of Fish. I slunk down in my chair and then I looked over at Sasha and she’s slinking down too.
Sasha: We both looked at each other and started laughing. That night we learned taste in men is one of the many things we share.
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Sharing a life – and a pant size
Sasha: The rule is opposites attract, but in a lot of ways we’re practically the same person. We sort of look alike, we’re a similar height and weight with similar hair.
Erin: Sasha’s grandmother once told us, “You two could be brothers!” She has mild dementia.
Sasha: We like all the same things: TV shows, type of music, paddle boarding, hiking. We both like to leave concerts before the end to beat the rush.
Erin: At the same time, we are totally different people. Sasha’s very outgoing and bubbly and I’m … not. She kind of brings out the social butterfly in me and I think I help her to be calm. I wouldn’t want to date someone exactly like me – I’m a Taurus! Sharing jeans is a pretty big perk though.
A perfect proposal
Erin: I proposed to Sasha after four years together. We hadn’t technically discussed it, but she had shown me a couple of rings that she liked, so it’s not like it was totally out of nowhere.
Sasha: I definitely wanted to be proposed to.
Erin: And I knew I wanted to propose. It’s weird because you want to be this feminist rejecting gender roles, but Sasha is definitely the girly one between us: I have short hair, she has long. I wear pants, she likes dresses. I feel like I’m the strong protector even though she could totally beat me up.
Sasha: I remember it was so hot that day that when Erin insisted we go outside for a picnic I was kind of annoyed until I realized what was happening.
Erin: I wrote three mini poems and put them inside bottles and hid them, so it was like a scavenger hunt and the last clue was the ring. I don’t like to admit it, but I can be a bit cheesy.
Sasha: It was perfect.
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