TG Love Stories | Thao & Chris

Since the start of The True Gem company, the Love Stories received by our community have been an integral part of who we are and what we stand for. Reading through these Love Stories has left our team feeling as though WE are the ones on the receiving end of it all. So thank you, from all of us, for being so raw and real. It has been a truly humbling experience for us to read your stories and celebrate with you in this way, and we are excited to now be able to share that experience with our very own True Gem community, the authors of the Love Stories themselves!

We hope you enjoy reading these Love Stories as much as we have. We feel honored to be able to celebrate love with each and every one of you!

Chris and I met while attending summer school at the University of Texas Arlington in July 2010. Chris was retaking physics while I was taking my prerequisites for nursing school and we ended up connecting through mutual friends. To say that things were rough at first would be an understatement. My parents immediately disapproved of Chris due to race, religion, and cultural differences. Because of their reaction, I broke up with Chris since I wanted so badly to abide by my parents’ wishes and their expectations for who they wanted me to marry.

Obviously, we ended up getting back together and secretly dated for 3.5 years before I told my parents once again. My mother fainted, while my dad attempted to disown me and threatened to kick me out. As much as I hated hurting my parents, I knew I couldn’t throw my relationship with Chris away like I did before. After a few weeks, my older brother somehow convinced my parents to accept my relationship. Six months later (and much to my surprise), my parents came to adore Chris. After almost ten years, Chris secretly brought his parents to meet mine for the first time and to ask for their blessings. On March 13th, 2020, Chris proposed (with the Tara Solitaire adapted for a Morganite Pear) while we were on vacation in Thailand!

I hope that in sharing our love story, it can break through boundaries and shed light on the struggles of interracial, inter-religious, and intercultural relationships. Despite all the ups and downs that we’ve faced, we’ve been able to face it together and I can’t imagine a better life partner to go through it all with. - Thao