We're Getting Hitched!

In the summer of 2017, I was home in Chicago after my freshman year of college. I had just started attending Harvest Niles and unbeknownst to me, I befriended Frank’s friends. We didn’t see much of each other during the summer, and I didn’t give him the time of day. I went back to school in the beginning of August and thankfully, my stand-offish behavior didn’t stop him from reaching it. On August 22, I received a Facebook message from him. We started getting to know each other. He was very forward and asked all the right questions. When he shared his intentions with me, I was excited to continue getting to know him and eager to go on our first date. Thus began our near two year long-distance relationship. ~Bianca

By January, it was confirmed. I was enamored and decided I loved her; my family and friends loved her more than they loved me; long distance somehow worked; and it became clear that we were compatible and complementary. Come summertime, all this was even more true, and we had already been talking about marriage for months. Bianca was in Chicago on break, and we were spending scores of time together. It was time to propose, and I was poor. I pieced together a ring from old earrings and had them set into a band. The process was swift and creative. I cannot lie to her, so she of course knew. She saw the whole thing coming. I had decided to push up the proposal date last minute and recruited some help from her sisters, Claudia and Dally (see bridal party page). They came in at the eleventh hour and beautified the cinematic scenery. In the meantime, Bianca worked the whole day. She knew it was coming: I got a haircut, got her off of work early, and told her I wanted to take her out (the last thing she’d want after a hard day’s work). We stopped at my house to change, and my neighbor caught wind of the news—thanks to my mother—and prematurely congratulated us. Frankly, it was quite a disaster. I rushed; she saw it coming the whole time; my neighbor audibly gave it away. However, it was a lovely disaster because she said yes. ~Frank