August 30, 2025

Cerin's side: From the moment I entered into my late teens, my mom always told me that it is never too early to start praying for your future spouse. Most of the time, this advice went in one ear and out the other. Many years later, halfway through my intern year of residency, I decided that maybe its finally time to listen to her advice and started a rosary novena. Little did I know, God already had something in the works. One day, sometime in between my novena, a guy named Chris Chacko requested to follow me on Instagram. I usually don't let random people follow me, so I looked through his profile to see if I recognized him. Nope. Just another random brown boy -- but this time, a really cute one, so I decided to accept his request—but that was it. I didn't get any messages, no likes on my posts, no interaction what so ever. Three months passed, and I honestly forgot about him. Then, out of nowhere, after I posted a picture with my nephew from a wedding, I got a message from him. "Ok honestly I can’t wait any longer I think you’re so cute. But also hi I'm Chris!" I smiled really big seeing this at work. I thought it was the cutest message! So naturally, in usual Cerin fashion, I responded late, but I responded none the less hehe, and I am so grateful that I did. Best decision ever. Chris' Side: Yeahh... makes it look nice and easy. I first saw her instagram one night just hanging out with friends when there was a lull in conversation, and her smile genuinely captivated me - I decided to hit follow. Truthfully I never INTENDED to DM her, I tried effortlessly to meet her in person, going to our community convention that year and asking around about her, sending my cousins on a wild goose-hunt at a wedding I thought she was at - all to no avail. However, there was a moment in between all of this that I actually felt she was the one for me. Alone on a Saturday night while living in NYC, I decided I needed to make something happen as soon as I moved home. Shortly after, I was on my way to a wedding where I could've sworn it looked like she was also at. Sent my cousins Jeslyn & Abin on a hunt to scour the crowd and find her, and in the mean-time I asked around some people I knew if they knew her... to which one of them replied "no I don't know her, but she's pretty cute". Hell No, ain't nobody taking MY girl. So I messaged her that instant. And the rest? History.