We met in high school and the rest was history. We first met in person on the day of Brandon’s high school graduation! Fast forward a year and it was time for Alyssa to go off to college in Hawaii! Brandon was so supportive even though he knew it would be years of long distance. Alyssa would fly home for breaks and Brandon would make trips out to Hawaii. Brandon moved to Utah to peruse his education and then the time difference made us even further from one another. This long distance went on for five years. Even with all of the pressure from those around us asking when will you get married or are you moving back to California to be with Brandon we always agreed I would finish school and we would move to the next chapter of life when it comes naturally. Maybe this mutual understanding was because we were young when we started dating and needed to grow together. When the pandemic hit Alyssa had the decision between using her teaching license in Hawaii or coming home. Ultimately Alyssa chose to be home because of the state of the world she no longer wanted to be away from her family and from Brandon. Finally in the same state again since our first year of dating we had so much fun. We visited Catalina, and Disneyland and ate all over San Diego! At the end of my second year of teaching Brandon took me to Las Vegas as a congratulatory trip just as he had done the year before. Except this time he took me to a very romantic restaurant and asked the question “Will you marry me?”. It felt like all of our years apart and all of our experiences together came to and resulted in something so beautiful. Brandon has made many sacrifices in order to get ready for our wedding. He has gone to classes to be confirmed and we are now on our next steps to being married in the Catholic Church. We have been together 9 years and counting. The love that we share for one another is true and deep. We cannot wait to marry in front of all our friends and family in the city that we love so deeply.