On July 18, Stu Shiffman and Andi Shechter will celebrate their betrothal with a simple Tenaim ceremony in Seattle with the support of Rabbi Jessica K Marshall.

This event, while small, is our way of telling our family and friends that we intend to marry within the next year. We have chosen to take this interim step, celebrating our betrothal, as a way of looking back on the last year and looking forward. The Tenaim ceremony is brief, and while we wish you could all be there, that isn't possible. An invitation to our wedding will come later, once we have the details worked out.

We have been together for 25 years. On June 13, 2012, Stu suffered a serious stroke from which he has recovered to a major extent, although he still has more healing to do. In March of 2013, Andi turned sixty years old, while Stu will have his sixtieth birthday in February of 2014. We feel that we have good reason to talk about love and commitment.

We hope that about a year from now, we will have our wedding ceremony, again with the support of Rabbi Marshall and that you will be able to attend. We sort of figured we'd better start planning the party early. We hope you'll celebrate with us, now and in the year ahead, virtually or literally, from near or far.

We love you and would not have gotten through this past year without the love and support of our family and our communities. We hope this news makes you as happy as it makes us.