Redmond couple celebrates ruling with proposal

“We met in Japan. She was in the Air Force, I was in the Coast Guard,” Vivian Weaver said Monday.

The Redmond woman met her partner, Carla Buchanan, 33 years ago.

“It wasn’t until five or six years ago that I could put her on my insurance from work, and that was huge. I cried for days just over that,” Buchanan said.

The two say their journey has been nothing short of an emotional roller coaster. They say they’ve been ridiculed and made fun of, but also accepted at times.

“Just normal — we just want to be normal.” Buchanan said.

Buchanan and Weaver became domestic partners a few years ago, but they want a different title.

“Marriage is a little different thing, because it’s what other people get to do that we never have been able to do,” Buchanan said.

That all changed in one day.

When Buchanan read the news that gay marriage is now legal in Oregon, she dropped to one knee and proposed.

Weaver, of course, said yes.

It’s a proposal that’s been a long time coming, and already wedding plans are in the works.

“A quiet, private ceremony would be awesome,” Weaver said. “I can’t see us wearing white dresses or tuxes, but maybe we can get matching tie-dye shirts.”

This day, they say, is just one more step in the fight for marriage equality.

“It’s just huge. These are huge changes and I’m just so happy today,” Buchanan said.