When COVID hit in 2020 and Otterbein had just announced that we would be going home for the rest of the semester, many of our friends were really disappointed that we wouldn't get to have our formal in April. So, we planned our own! There were probably 15 of us total. That morning, Antonio presented Gabby with an index card with a poem written on it, asking her to be his date to the dance. Of course, she said yes, thinking it was a "friend date," until he showed up at her doorstep with flowers... She wasn't sure how to proceed, so she refused to let him pay for her dinner. The group then took over the Chapel on campus for a night- we turned the lights down and blasted some music, dancing the night away. Afterwards, we all went to a friend's apartment to watch a movie. When Antonio put his arm around Gabby, she was finally sure that his intention was not to just be friends. When he walked her back to her house, he asked her on a real date. Can you guess what she said?

We made dinner at Gabby's house and then went to Antonio's apartment, where we built a fort and watched a movie! Gabby burnt some popcorn so badly that it still smelled of burnt popcorn when Antonio moved out of that apartment. He walked her home, and ended the night with a kiss on the cheek.

The night before, Antonio's cousin (who is a budding nail artist) was at his house, painting their grandmother's nails. She asked if she could do mine to help "build her portfolio," insisting on a French manicure instead of the green I'd chosen. The next day, Antonio and I had plans to go to a rooftop bar. I was dressed up and pulling on my shoes when I heard a knock at my door. Expecting Antonio, I opened the door to find Gloria, his younger sister. She was recording me and said that there had been a change of plans and we were going on a scavenger hunt. She handed me a clue and a rose. Each clue was something like "the place of our first date" or "where we first held hands." At each of seven stops, there was a good friend waiting with the next clue and rose. The final stop was "his favorite place," our church Chapel North. I walk in the building and our Pastors were waiting there with roses and hugs. They open the door to the sanctuary, where I saw Antonio waiting on the stage with the word "Love" spelled in lights, with rose petals and candles lining the path to him. He read me a poem, then got down on one knee. We all know what happened next!