After spending the day with my mom and sisters exploring Duval Street in Key west we went back to the hotel to greet the boys after a long day of fishing. I didn’t see them pull up because I was getting a shower and packing for a long drive home by myself. My sisters and I went down stairs to pack my car and here came the boys all dressed and ready for dinner. My dad walked up with my brother, David, and Jose. He introduced José and all I saw was his smile. It was time to leave for dinner and Jose and David jumped in my car with me and my sisters. We played music and the whole time I was driving I kept looking in the mirror to see Jose looking back at me with this big beautiful smile. His laugh was contagious. We got to dinner and Jose sat next to me and talked to me the entire time. As I left to drive home, Jose asked for my number. They were all going to celebrate Franklins 21st birthday and the whole time Jose was texting me so I wouldn’t get FOMO. After a few weeks of talking and getting to know each other, Jose quickly became the person I spent most of my time with. He was patient, kind, sweet, and loving. He let me open up on my terms and allowed me to be me. It was because of this that, that I fell in love with the man I will be calling Husband.

Jose’s Story: I had known for a while that I wanted to ask the big question but honestly there was really no plan set in stone. We took a trip up to Michigan to go visit my sister and her family. On the second morning, I asked Jamie if she’d want to go ring shopping. We went to the store and started trying rings. Jamie then stumbled upon the exact ring that she wears on her hand today. The moment Jamie put the ring on her finger she shed some tears. She went to the bathroom to clean up a bit and I knew at that moment I was not leaving the store without it. As soon as I got home, I started to plan and think about how I was going to ask the question. Kristina, (Jamie’s sister), Enzo (my cousin), and Franklin (Jamie’s brother) helped with everything. After three months of planning we came up with a plan where I would ask Jamie to be my wife. We planned for it to be at a nature preserve right by my house and after enjoy a staycation at the beach in Fort. Lauderdale where we would celebrate with our friends and family. I told Jamie I wanted to take a staycation and take some nice pictures at sunset. Finally, the day was here and I was planned to ask Jamie around 6 o’clock. We arrived at the reserve and started taking a bunch of photos. It felt honestly like time was moving in slow motion. We were waiting for the sun to set and I had the ring in my pocket the whole time. I was more nervous that she would see or feel it. Never the less it all worked out and it was time.. the sun was setting and I told Jamie I wanted to do a certain pose, I had her turned around facing out in the distance as I took a few steps back and got on my knee as I waited for the signal to turn her around. As I turned her around it was honestly a flood of emotions. I had asked her to be my forever, and she said yes! At that moment I couldn’t be happier, I was marrying the love of my life.