During one of the most stressful years of their life, Jared Polis and his partner Marlon Reis got engaged, bringing joy into a year defined by anxiety.
Polis popped the question at a peak of this anxiety. Both Polis and Reis had contracted coronavirus and had been quarantining at their home. Polis experienced only mild symptoms but Reis was having more severe COVID-related symptoms and a doctor told him he should go to the hospital. It was a fraught moment. Reis was packing his things going to the hospital, their kids were asking when he’d be back. Cutting the tension, Polis got down one one knee and asked Reis to marry him. Reis happily accepted.
“It was the absolute perfect time,” Reis says to the Colorado Sun. “I said to him, ‘I couldn’t breathe before. Now I really can’t breathe.’”
The engagement served as a silver lining to a stressful week.
“It put such a spring in my step,” Reis said. “When I got to the hospital I wasn’t scared anymore. I said ‘I have a great relationship, a great family that I’m going to be coming home to after this.’”
Reis was released from the hospital after two days and has since recovered. This was Dec. 6; the couple had kept the engagement silent for almost three months before the Colorado Sun reported the news.
Reis is an animal advocate and writer. Polis is the first openly gay governor to be elected. They have been together for 17 years.
Together they have a 6-year-old daughter and a 9-year-old son. Both were excited about the news, but once their son saw the rings, he let his disapproval be known. The rings are both very plain, made of tungsten and are inscribed with passage from Isaiah 11:6.
A date hasn’t yet been chosen for the wedding, but both Reis and Polis say they are excited.
“Let’s not wait. Let’s live life while we have it to live,” Reis says. “Let’s celebrate and look out for each other and keep caring about the things that we care about. Even though we’re dealing with these circumstances, we can’t give up on our dreams.”
Image Courtesy of David Zalubowski/AP Photo
