ERIC & TIEN
OUR LOVE STORY
Eric and Tien first met when they were kids, at the wedding of Tien's uncle and Eric's aunt.
Tien's grandma Mona, Tien's grandpa Ray, Tien, Tien's mom Wendy, Tien's brother Michael, Eric's aunt Mary, Tien's uncle Jeff
Eric's parents, Jim and Ellen, Eric's aunt Mary, Tien's uncle Jeff, Eric
12-year-old Eric played the piano, and 15-year-old Tien played at being wedding videographer (one of her camera batteries definitely did not run out in the middle of the ceremony. She was way too seasoned for that. 🙄)
They didn't really talk to each other at the time -- I mean, a two and a half year age difference was a big deal back in those days. But they did happen to stand next to each other once! See, we found evidence. Their very first photo together. 😂
Tien's brother Michael, Tien's grandpa Ray, Tien, Eric, Tien's mom Wendy
The two didn't meet again until they were adults. The scene was Thanksgiving in San Diego, 2017. Tien was head chef, like she always is (what did you think the knife was for??) She and Eric hit it off almost immediately, talking a lot about their shared love of games.
Tien's grandma Mona, Eric's grandma Betty, Aunt Mary, Eric, Tien
Tien was with someone else at the time (laaaaaame!) But don't worry, that didn't work out. A year later, their aunt Mary asked Tien if she wanted to go on a trip to Kentucky with her. She said yes. Little did she know that Mary's sister, Ellen, had also invited her son Eric. It was Halloween, 2018.
Tien, Ellen, Mary, Eric
Tien, Mary, Ellen, Eric
Having just gotten out of a very long relationship, Tien wanted to be single. SIN-GLE! She was very focused on this idea. At one point, a 13-year-old girl looked at Eric and Tien and asked, "are you two married?" There must have been something in the air, even then. "No, no," they both told her. But look at this guy. Seriously, how could Tien resist? The two of them were made for each other.
Eric, Tien, Ellen and Mary hiked through the woods. They came across a river. Tien was wearing her favorite running shoes, which she didn't want to get wet (okay, to be fair -- the last time she waded in a river with shoes on, she completely destroyed them. Running shoes are expensive, and these were fairly new.) Everyone gathered stones, and Eric carried over a huge, heavy log to make crossing easy. He held her hand as she crossed, like the gentleman that he is. He got all muddy in the process and didn't even care. 😍
Both Eric and Tien are night owls. They stayed up late every night after everyone else went to sleep; playing games, listening to music, and talking. At one point they had a three hour long conversation about all of the old PC games that they both played as kids. They played a lot of Bananagrams, both with the family and together. Everyone else agreed that no one wanted to play against either of them, because they were both too quick. It was basically just a game between Tien and Eric. (Sorry, guys!)
Actual Bananagrams from the Kentucky trip
It became clear pretty quickly that Tien was not going to stay single like she'd intended. She did try, I swear. It just didn't work. The night before Ellen and Eric were heading home to Virginia, Eric and Tien held hands late at night and walked in the rain. They were going to kiss, but then Eric said to her, "you probably shouldn't kiss me if you want to stay single. You'll fall in love with me." Tien thought this was silly (goes to show how much she knows!!) and she kissed him anyway. (And yes, it turned out that he was right.)
Look at these two, after that cute scene I just described, sitting and holding hands. Completely HOPELESS! They stood no chance.
Eric might have gone home to Virginia, and Tien to California, but the two of them have been inseparable ever since. They talked every day, multiple times a day, for hours. Phone batteries drained from alternating between Duo, Hangouts and Messenger video calls depending on which one worked better that day. They spent all of 2019 traveling back and forth, coast to coast, making memories together and having tons of fun. And yes, playing lots of games (including the board game that Tien designed!)
Tien, Eric, and Eric's parents, Ellen and Jim
Tien learned to wakesurf!
Eric dazzles, looking very fashionable in Tien's hat
Hmmm.... premonitory, perhaps?
Yes, we are crazy. 😂
Of course, Eric was jealous. But, come on; it's TWILIGHT IMPERIUM!!!!!!
Eric taught Tien how to play D&D.
Eric doesn't need a fake red beard.
At the end of 2019, Tien moved to Virginia and in with Eric... just before the pandemic hit. Needless to say, they spent quite a few weeks in a row binge-playing Gloomhaven until 3 in the morning that year.
I mean -- look at the size of this mini, though!!
Eric is extremely strong. He can carry entire trees, by himself.
Tien fell in love with Virginia, and the two of them thrived together. The last several years have been full of challenges -- more challenges than either one could have anticipated. But the difficulties brought them closer together and made them stronger.
Once a dork, always a dork
Eric looks fabulous in Tien's sunglasses
It takes talent to be such beautiful magic Christmas fairies
Eric graduating from JMU with his Masters in Education
Eric and Tien, in the style of Steven Universe
In the summer of 2023, Eric had a very sneaky plan to propose to Tien at SML (Smith Mountain Lake). They had been planning this vacation for a long time. Tien's best friend, Brooke, and her husband and kids were coming out to visit. Tien is extremely intuitive, and probably would have figured it out... except for the fact that just as the vacation was starting, a whole bunch of really difficult things happened to her. She was struggling emotionally, and had a lot on her mind, and missed some of the signs. This is pretty amazing, as Tien is hard to surprise!
Ellen told Tien several weeks prior that she and Jim were planning a surprise for Eric. They were going to decorate the pontoon boat that they rented to celebrate Eric getting the job he wanted. Tien thought she was in on the surprise for him. In fact, she even had a surprise of her own planned. But the truth is, Eric was in on Ellen's surprise the whole time -- he acted like he was surprised that the boat was decorated, but he knew that the plan was to change the décor after he proposed. See? Sneaky.
But just as the whole group went out on the boat and was getting ready to go for a sunset swim, everyone paused, and Eric got down, very, very slowly to one knee (on a very uncomfortable surface, mind you!) He expressed to Tien how much he loves her, and wants to spend the rest of their life together. He asked her to marry him.
Tien was overjoyed. Of course, she said yes!! It was very romantic.
And then Tien laughed at how funny the timing was, and pulled out the surprise that she had also been planning to give him on this same day. It was a custom song that she had paid to have written for the two of them. Now, don't go judging her for not having written it herself -- Tien has written poems for Eric, made videos for Eric, created all kinds of gifts for him over the years. She saw the advertisement for custom songs, and just thought it sounded really fun and did it on a whim. It was an uncanny coincidence that she'd planned to give it to him on the same day as his proposal. Or was it a coincidence?
Tien played the song for Eric, and it took him until halfway through to figure out that it was actually written just for the two of them.
Ellen strung up the 'engaged' sign over the 'congratulations' sign that had originally been hanging on the boat, and cracked open a bottle of champagne. (Don't worry, the kids were drinking sparkling cider. 😂)
Eric's knee took a beating, but it was for a good cause
You can watch the video of the engagement, including the song at the end, as well as read the lyrics below:
For clarification, Tien called Eric a liar because she knew that he was planning on proposing at some point, but he had told her he was going to wait until after summer was over.
"Love Like This" by Chris Von
They met
When they were kids
His aunt and her uncle’s marriage
Took them way too long to meet again
Late nights
With games and talks
He said, “Don’t kiss me or you’ll fall in love”
She didn’t realize how true that was
No matter where we go
No matter where we are
You’re still on my heart
And I’m on yours
Through all the memories
And all the sights we’ve seen
I couldn’t be more proud
To have a love like this
She knew
He was the one
When one letter showed who he was
His mind and heart displayed in every word
This man
Knew he was all in
When a fight in the car showed the love within
She was committed and he’d never let her go
No matter where we go
No matter where we are
You’re still on my heart
And I’m on yours
Through all the memories
And all the sights we’ve seen
I couldn’t be more proud
To have a love like this
And of course, they lived happily ever after, duh.
Well, actually, they both have been through some massive challenges over these last five+ years together. But you know you've found a keeper when, rather than breaking your love, those challenges make it stronger. They've both grown a lot, and agree that they like themselves better since being together.
Eric and Tien make an amazing team; especially when they are playing games. Even more so when those games are complex strategy games that require long-term planning. In fact, many people don't like playing games against either of them, but especially when they are playing as a team. The two of them absolutely kick ass together.
And what is life, but a game?
