Before they had a first date or even a first kiss, and just a handful of months after their introduction, in 2016, Maya Ariel (left) toasted Cecilia Grugan and vowed to “put a ring on her finger” in front of a group of friends.
The two had first met earlier that year at the wedding of mutual friends. (Both are deaf, communicating with each other primarily through American Sign Language, and they used a video relay service with an ASL interpreter for this interview.)
Ms. Grugan, now 26, was in another relationship at the time, but she remembers vividly the first time she spotted Ms. Ariel, who was in a floral print dress. “I wanted our worlds to collide,” she said.
A few days after that initial meeting, Ms. Grugan moved to Dayton, Ohio, to begin studying for a master’s degree in education at Wright State University. The relationship she had been in ended soon after, and in September, Ms. Ariel, now 31, hoping to provide solace for her new friend, offered to make the eight-hour drive to Ohio from her home in Washington.
“I saw how hurt she was, and I saw she had a tough time with herself, so I didn’t push it,” Ms. Ariel said. “But I knew in the back of my mind there was an opportunity for me.”
She went out to Dayton again the following month, and told Ms. Grugan, “I want to see you once a month if I can.”
The two found they had much in common. Both graduated from R.I.T., Ms. Ariel, cum laude, and Ms. Grugan, magna cum laude, though their school years did not overlap. Ms. Ariel had also gone on to graduate studies, receiving an M.B.A. from Anderson University in Anderson, Ind.
Soon after Ms. Ariel’s bold toast, the couple did have their first kiss. They were together for the winter holidays at Ms. Grugan’s family’s home in Alexandria, Pa., and each night, before heading off to her own room, Ms. Grugan would wish Ms. Ariel a good night’s sleep and give her a smooch.
And a few months later, Ms. Grugan reciprocated Ms. Ariel’s profession of romantic interest with her own, signing a version of Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” for Ms. Ariel.
“I wanted to commit to her,” Ms. Grugan said. “It wasn’t a direct statement that I made, but we shared a kiss that night, and that’s when she knew we would be in an exclusive relationship.”
Ms. Ariel said she was taken by Ms. Grugan’s zest for life. “She wakes up every morning with a new direction or adventure in mind,” she said.
After completing her graduate degree, Ms. Grugan moved to Washington for an internship, and soon found full-time employment with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She is now a specialist there, guiding agencies on compliance.
In September 2018, Ms. Grugan moved into Ms. Ariel’s Washington rowhouse. Ms. Ariel is now a strategic business analyst at United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
A year ago, the couple were engaged. Ms. Ariel proposed to Ms. Grugan with a scavenger hunt that culminated in Blagden Alley, a spot in Washington that has a rainbow-hued “love” mural. A month later, Ms. Grugan made her own proposal, at Harpers Ferry, W.Va., after a hike.
The couple had planned to have a wedding on July 25 with 200 guests in Petersburg, Pa., but after the coronavirus pandemic settled in, they scrapped all their plans.
“We were pretty eager to be married,” Ms. Grugan said.
On June 26, the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, the two self-united, as allowed by statute in the District of Columbia. A dozen family members watched on Zoom, with two ASL interpreters also on the video link.
Instead of a first dance, the couple made a video to share with their virtual guests, in which they together signed John Legend’s “All of Me.”
