River Deli is the name of the Italian restaurant where he was working as a chef, and she was a waitress.

Ben and Roni believe that a solid friendship is an important piece of creating a lasting relationship. Ben used to accompany Roni home on the train after late shifts, even though he had another hour-long commute back to his house, and his shifts started earlier. Ben and Roni liked to go to Times Square together to take walks and people-watch. Going for tacos and tortas in Brooklyn was another one of their common activities as friends.

Ben and Roni believe that love is a choice - one that you make every day. The day before Christmas Eve, they decided to make the choice to give love a chance. Every day since then, they have been choosing in good times and bad to stand beside each other, support and respect, listen to and hold each other.

It was a cool spring day, May 6th, 2018. Roni was having a bad day, and Ben invited her to go for a jog. At the beach, they stopped to sit on a bench at the boardwalk. As Roni was ranting about stray cats, Ben pulled out a ring and asked her to marry him (in English and Spanish)! It was private, romantic, and spontaneous, with the sun setting over the ocean as the backdrop. Then they walked the next mile FaceTiming and calling immediate family with the news.

On December 11th 2018 Ben invited Roni out to dinner with friends and family after work. While they were in the beautiful indoor plaza where Ben said they were meeting the rest of the group, a friend came over with a plate of cupcakes. Ben picked up a ring from the plate and proposed there with roses.