Ring-pop romance

When English teacher Jessica Kaufman’s fiancé proposed in front of an open trash can, she thought he was pulling an April Fools’ Day prank on her.

After hearing the crinkling sound of a wrapper, Kaufman, initially thinking their dogs had broken into something, dashed into the bedroom to find her fiancé acting “cagey” and evasive. Bewildered, she followed him into the kitchen, where he panicked — the trash can still ajar after he had stuffed the candy packaging in — and presented her with a Ring Pop.

“I was like, ‘You’re not, come on.’ And then he pulled out the real ring, and I was like, ‘Oh!’” Kaufman said. 

Kaufman and her fiancé first met and exchanged numbers at a coffee shop while she was with her friends. Although Kaufman’s interactions with him at that first meeting were limited, she recalls that he was “really nice,” and they stayed in contact afterward through text. 

“We were friends first,” Kaufman said. “So we have a friendship in addition to our romantic relationship, which I think is really important too, because we can just hang out with each other and enjoy each other’s company.” 

Kaufman recalls visiting Disneyland in L.A. with her fiance and friends shortly before the COVID-19 lockdown as one of her fondest memories of their relationship. As for the pandemic, Kaufman believes that living with her fiance established that they could “be around each other for extended periods of time and not kill each other.” 

“I’m pretty high strung, so it’s a nice balance for me to be around somebody who’s so calm,” Kaufman said. “He’s really supportive as a partner and tries to do whatever he can to help me.”

After almost six years of dating, Kaufman and her fiancé plan to hold a small wedding in Colorado during Spring Break. Kaufman will wear a black dress instead of white as a testament to “doing what feels the most like us, rather than what tradition dictates.”

“I don’t think we would have done it any other way,” Kaufman said. “We’re very low-key people, so I don’t think it would have been a big deal anyways, which is kind of nice.”