Stephanie and Manu met through Stephanie’s Mom and Manu’s Aunt setting them up. Both Stephanie and Manu had asked their family to help with finding a spouse. Stephanie was on her 7th/8th (she lost count) proposal while for Manu this was the first proposal he decided to talk to. When Stephanie’s mom told her about Manu and sent her the photo, she took a week to pray on it, at the end telling her mom that she would speak to him. Manu on the other hand had decided not to speak to Stephanie, relaying the information to his aunt. As soon as he hung up the phone, deep in his heart, he knew he just made a mistake. Manu decided to take time to pray on it. His aunt also decided to take some initiative and ask Stephanie’s Mom for Stephanie’s phone number anyway, just in case Manu changed his mind. Stephanie’s Mom was hesitant to give her daughter’s number, so she first called Stephanie for permission and then asked her other daughter Sarah, if she should still give the number, he already said no. Sarah replied with why not. So Stephanie’s Mom passed on Stephanie’s phone number and a side note that Stephanie would not be available to talk until after her exam. Two weeks later, Stephanie was sitting in her brand new rotation, having lunch when Manu finally decided to message her. Ever since then they’ve never stopped talking.

After four weeks of texting, skyping, and phone calls, Manu decided to take a one day trip to come see Stephanie in New Jersey. On April 29th, 2017, a Saturday morning, Stephanie made her way out to the airport, parked, and went inside to wait for Manu’s flight to land. She ended up pacing the airport baggage area so much that security came up to see if she was okay. She finally decided to sit down and wait until Manu told her he was there. As soon as he arrived, Stephanie waited with excitement and nervousness, wondering if Manu would like her in person. Manu was on his way down to the baggage claim, also feeling excited and nervous. He was able to see Stephanie before she saw him. After a moment, Stephanie saw Manu and tried to keep herself still until he came closer. When he was finally close enough, she reached out to hug him. Before the meeting, Stephanie prayed that when she met Manu in person, that there would be a peace and a feeling of home. That first hug calmed all of her nerves and she knew that was it.

Manu had told Stephanie that he was coming up for a business meeting that was happening Saturday to Sunday. They were planning to meet after his afternoon session so that they could visit the spot they had their first date at and then have dinner. When Stephanie arrived at the park, it was already dark, and she couldn't find Manu immediately so she called him. He asked that she follow the candles from the parking lot to him, reading the notes that were in them along the way. Stephanie thought that was sweet and romantic, and had absolutely no idea what was going on until she read the last note. Manu stood by the end of the candles and guided her to the gazebo, which all of a sudden lit up all around with twinkle lights. He brought Stephanie over to the center and proposed, keeping it short and sweet. Stephanie said yes and nearly cried over the sweet surprise.