If Steph didn’t know something was up when I asked her to change outfits, she definitely knew when I started sweating and shaking, holding her hand while walking the boardwalk. I managed to calm my nerves enough to ask Stephanie to marry me on June 8th, 2019 at the marina next to our apartment in Paulus Hook, Jersey City. Her jaw dropped a little, and she responded with a classic, “Are you sure?!” As anyone who knows us already is aware, I haven’t been so sure of anything in my life, so this was an easy answer. She said yes, and we kissed in front of the sailboats. After a minute Steph, glancing to our side said, “Is she with you?” at the stranger taking a thousand pictures. She was, and we laughed as we walked to my sister’s “birthday dinner” the next block over, which at this point she knew was for her. We walked into White Star Bar and Grill to applause from all our closest friends and family, and celebrated well into the next morning.

Danny knew he loved Stephanie from, quite literally, night one. They met in the illustrious Nassau/Suffolk dorm building at Hofstra University in 2009, and he was smitten. She wasn’t so sure he didn’t tell every girl that, but he persisted. For seven years. They dated on and off throughout college, however Danny wasn’t quite ready for her. For example, his house had a dedicated room for empty beer cans. In 2016, Steph hadn’t spoken to Danny in a long time, but decided to text him a song. She’d say it was just to introduce him to the artist… but you have to hear the song to know that her intentions were pretty thinly-veiled. After 2 or 3 of his old phone numbers didn’t get a reply, her last try got to him, and his reply took about 45 seconds. She realized she still loved him while driving on a Fall night a few weeks later, with the windows down and blasting music from college. They knew pretty quickly that it was right, and moved in together in 2017. From Park Slope, to Westchester, to Jersey City there have been more and more amazing memories made, and even more exciting plans. It’s pretty dumbfounding to think that their life together begins in 2021, after a decade of both yearning hearts and weightless excitement. When it’s right, it’s right. For Danny and Stephanie, love wasn’t always enough, but it’s always been there and always will be.