We're so excited to celebrate with you!

As I'm writing this, I'm thinking about how Brandon and I met about 5 years ago around this time exactly. It was December 2016. I was a scared, inexperienced nurse, at my first nursing job. Brandon was a nursing assistant, or PCA, as they were called. We worked on an extremely busy step down medicine unit. He was confident, extremely hard-working, and seemed to be friends with just about everyone. I was slow to warm up to my new coworkers but Brandon was one that stood out from the rest. Brandon would help bathe, turn, change patients and take vital signs on my patients. He was also quick to run to the sound of any alarm that sounded. I'll never forget how quickly he would jump from his seat to the sound of a bed alarm (meaning a patient was trying to get out of bed), or to help a patient calling out for help (which you might only understand if you work in healthcare ;) ). I began to admire him for his work ethic and how he was always so humble. I loved how he could calm down almost any confused patient or he would jump right into doing CPR (which was oh so frequent on the unit we worked on). The nights we worked were long, but we slowly got to know each other better as weeks progressed. A few months passed and I learned that Brandon had passed his MCAT and was going to medical school in Missouri. At this point we were just friends, but I couldn't help but feel sad for myself, but also of course excited for him. I was unsure if Brandon had any romantic feelings towards me, but they were validated later that Spring when he invited me to breakfast near the hospital. I like to say it was our first date (because Brandon offered to pay), but Brandon won't agree with that. The date went extremely well, or as Brandon would probably tell you - our breakfast as "friends" LOL. We stayed in contact those next few weeks and saw each other at work still.

Brandon was leaving for medical school in early July, so we only had a few more weeks together. I had no idea what I was doing getting involved with someone who was moving thousands of miles away in a few months. Especially because I had no intention of leaving New York. However, there was something about Brandon that I just couldn't give up on. We went on a jet skiing date a week before he was set to leave for Missouri. I had never done it before and likely would have said no if it were with anyone else, but I didn't want to sound boring and I trusted Brandon. We ended up having one of the best days I've ever had. Brandon likes to call this our ACTUAL first date. I still disagree. But it was extremely fun. That weekend I also got to meet his family and we spent 4th of July together. It was truly an amazing weekend and I didn't want it to end. By the end of the weekend, we decided to officially start dating. We agreed that 4th of July would be our anniversary. We were official. A few days later, Brandon had to leave for school. We hadn't really talked much about what exactly we were going to do. He was going to be in MO for at least 4 years and I had given little thought about what I wanted to do. We knew we wanted to stay together. It was almost like we had this unspoken bond that kept us together despite our long distance. When Brandon left, I was devastated. But, I knew that we would make it work. I trusted him, and he trusted me. Over the next four years, we visited each other every few months and tried to be together for special occasions like birthdays and holidays. Sometimes we couldn't always make it work, but we got really good at celebrating things early or late. We talked on the phone multiple times a day, FaceTimed, texted, and for a short time -SnapChatted. It was a long four years, but we came out stronger than ever come 2021.

In Brandon's last year of medical school, he had a bit more free time to come home to New York. I was so happy to see him more often. In August of 2020, Brandon came home for a few weeks. We had some plans here and there, but there was one arrangement I had no idea about. On August 15th 2020, Brandon, Brandon's cousin Zack, and I went on a hike up to Bear Mountain. It was a hot and muggy day and there were A LOT of hikers. We were almost to the peak but Brandon decided to hike to the right to this isolated off-shoot. It was an area where there were no other hikers but us. It was a gorgeous view with blue skies and sunshine. Brandon wanted to take a picture in front of the view. I got up and Zack started getting ready to snap a photo. As I swing my arm around Brandon's waist, he grabs both of my hands so that I start facing toward him. For a split second, I am very confused. I quickly come to the realization of what is about to happen. Brandon proposed right there and had Zack come along to snap the amazing photos. He brought a bottle of champagne to make it even more special. It is still the happiest day of my life. We later took some more photos with his family and my parents had a little celebration waiting for us at home. It was certainly a day neither of us will ever forget.

On February 1st of 2021, Brandon learned the news of where he matched for residency. I flew in the night before to be with him when he learned the news. I was so excited, but also nervous. Brandon ended up matching in Lansing, Michigan for their Urology Residency. I was so proud of him! In June of that year, we moved to Lansing with the help of our friends and family. We will be here for the next 4.5 years as Brandon completes his training. We are extremely happy to no longer be long distance and to finally live together.