Maria: Eric and I met on Facebook Dating in 2023. Eric was hoping to move to Florida to begin a path in aviation and live a life in a tropical climate when I swiped right. I was focusing on work and was hopeful to find a life partner who’d want to go on adventures together. We shared our dreams early on and spent good parts of our days enjoying phone conversations, when I soon realized Eric’s plans and that he could possibly leave Spokane. I explained to Eric that I would not do a long-distance relationship. At the time, we both agreed that pursuing a relationship was not a good idea, but we could stay in touch. Time went by, and Eric was unsure if moving to Florida would be feasible. Over text he’d mentioned looking into other schools and that he was waiting for a friend to get back from vacation to see a movie. I was on vacation at the time, and a misunderstanding turned into a date when I returned home. On our first date, Eric planned everything. He took me to have sushi and bought tickets to see the Barbie movie in downtown Spokane. After that, we went to karaoke. While unsure of the future, we took a leap of faith and this was our beginning. Eric later realized he didn't want to go to Florida anymore and received admittance at CWU, a school two hours from Spokane. We kept going on dates, and would eventually meet each other's family and friends.

When Maria and I first started dating, I knew that she was special and someone I instantly felt a connection with. From our first date at Umi eating sushi, to learning how to line and swing dance, to traveling to Vancouver B.C. and Boston MA, and all the adventures and time spent together, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. In the spring of 2024, I started to plan how I would ask her to marry me and where I would ask and how I would find out what kind of ring she would want. So, in preparation I took her ring shopping throughout 2024 and into the beginning of 2025. I know it is unconventional, but it gave me a foundation to build my plan on and make this a truly special moment. Eventually she showed me her favorite styles, stone cuts, metal colors, etc. down to a few ring options. In the summer of 2024, we decided to plan a trip to Victoria B.C. as neither of us had been there before and wanted to travel somewhere new! But I was planning on taking Maria on a hike to Colchuck Lake located 2 hours away from my apartment in Ellensburg and asking her to marry me there in May of 2025. However, there was a snowstorm that happened the weekend I planned on taking her there, closing the trail and forcing me to pivot to my backup plan, Victoria B.C. As the trip inched closer, I got more and more nervous about how I would tell her how much I loved her and that she was the one I wanted by my side till the end. As we planned our trip and what we were going to do and where we were going to visit, I found a lookout spot called Mount Douglas that overlooked the city and the water making it the perfect spot to ask her. So, the day came and we went about our day of exploring and enjoying our visit finding food, shopping, and tourist locations. The last spot we visited was Mount Douglas where we drove to the top and went to a quiet spot away from others to enjoy the view together. That was my moment, so I got down on my knee with the ring I had bought just 2 weeks prior and started to talk about how much I have fallen in love with Maria and how I want to spend my life with her as she makes me the happiest, I have ever been. Through my teary eyes and clearing my throat from its lump, she said yes! It was the happiest moment of my life, and I am so glad I made my decision. However, it was a very short speech I gave about my love for Maria, and I didn’t feel that it fully encompassed what I wanted to communicate with her. So, a few months later, I wrote a letter to better communicate my feelings and made a re-proposal at her little apartment with Percy, her dog, to witness the moment which caused both Maria and I to cry tears of joy. That is the story of how I proposed to Maria, my future wife, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us and our journey together. Whether it be easy or hard, I choose her.