We're (still) getting married!

Colin and Deija both attended Montclair State University, where they met in October of 2015. It was Deija's second year, Colin's final year, when she decided to join the MSU Quidditch team. Colin had already been playing with the team for the previous two years and helped teach Deija the ropes, along with the rest of the team, on the first day. After practice was completed, the team decided to get together to eat dinner. As Colin got up to grab seconds, Deija followed after him. She explained that he reminded her of one of her favorite characters from “How I Met Your Mother,” asked for his phone so that she could enter her phone number and call herself to receive his, declaring that he better get used to her since they were going to be best friends. Colin laughed and agreed with a pinky promise. That night, Colin added Deija on Facebook and the two texted each other almost everyday after that; making plans to hang out and growing closer by the day.

For their first date, they didn't really know what to do! They had spent so long being best friends, that they didn't know what it meant to be dating. Would they act differently? Would they mesh well as a couple, the same way they did as friends? They were nervous! Unsure of what to do, they agreed to go through with plans they had made when they first became friends: a trip to an NYC cat cafe. After about an hour at the Meow Parlour (and just barely avoiding buying a cat), they walked through Times Square, where they window shopped, laughed nonstop, climbed the red stairs of Times Square, and held hands looking at each other like the love struck idiots they were. As the evening came to a close, they didn't want the date to end and instead went back to NJ to catch a 7:00pm showing of "Brooklyn" and then head to a diner afterwards. That same night, Colin went to Deija's house and met her mom before driving them both back to Montclair State University. And while, yes, the date was unforgettable for all the fun they had, it also marks the first time each of them said I love you. Colin had secretly whispered it to Deija as they sat atop the red stairs of Times Square and Deija had secretly whispered it to Colin as they watched "Brooklyn". That night, the both of them recognized the other as someone they intended to cherish as long as they could manage. Today, they both look back and recognize it as the start of their forever.

Skip four years down the road and you'll find two people who learned everything there is to know about the other and wanted nothing more than to be with them, making them happy. For these four years they have helped each other to grow in their relationship, grow individually, and grow to recognize what a significant, irreplaceable role the other played in their lives. After waiting so long, it was finally the right time in their lives to make such an important step. And on October 4th, 2019, Colin took Deija to an apple orchard where he got down on one knee and asked her to spend the rest of their lives loving and growing with one another. Without a moment's hesitation Deija said yes, agreeing to a lifetime of happiness with her best friend.