Both of us were substitutes working around schools in Los Angeles. We each happened to get assigned to work long term positions at Ingenium Charter Elementary School in Canoga Park, CA. I had been working in the Special Education department for about a month when Stephanie came in to do the same for a little boy in kindergarten. On occasion I would notice Stephanie outside with her kindergarten student, and from time to time she would be getting screamed at or hit as she stood there calmly supporting his outbursts in the best way she could. I would make sure to check in with her, and she would check in with me when I would see her in the staff lounge. We became one another's support system as we both would vent and discuss the hardships we faced in this tough profession. At first we would share lunch on occasion, but then it started becoming a daily occurrence. Little by little we began to develop an organic and strong friendship. That friendship led to us hanging out outside of work, and enjoying new experiences together primarily set on going out to eat and drink. Overtime, our bond continued to grow even stronger. We naturally went from strangers, co-workers, friends, and to a point where we could not imagine life without each other. We have so many similarities in our passions, work ethic, and interests that falling in love was easy.

We went to Lake Arrowhead to celebrate our 4 year anniversary and the plan was always to propose to Stephanie at some point during this trip. However, I did not know how I would pull this off. I thought to myself, "I'll just wing it, and when the moment is right the stars will align." After spending the day together and cooking a bomb ass meal, we were hanging out and having a drink when we noticed these cards on the kitchen table. They had random questions written on them to ask your partner, and we decided to use them to spice up our conversation. Something just hit me. Everything leading up to that moment was so perfect I thought, “Shit! I need to do this now but I don’t have the ring on me!” I devised what I thought was an immaculate plan saying that I had lost my sunglasses so I was going to go look for them in my bag and go to the restroom. I thought I would just go in my bag, reach for the ring, put it in my pocket, “use” the restroom, and propose to her later on that day. However, Stephanie kept insisting to help me look for the glasses, and that’s where all of my hope was lost momentarily. After I called off the search in fear of her finding the ring, I pretended to use the restroom. As I got out, Stephanie had gone to the restroom herself so I quickly rushed to my bag, grabbed the ring box which was stuck in a pair of socks hidden under piles of clothes, and quickly sat at the dining table. I was trying my best to pretend as if my heart was not pounding out of my chest and trying to wipe off the sweat from the nerves of trying not to get caught by her. I’m sitting at the dining room table, trying not to make the box noticeable from my pocket when Stephanie got back. We began pulling cards at random, and asking each other questions. After a few rounds of pulling random cards, I pull a card that has me ask, “What were your 3 favorite moments from today?” I thought to myself, damn… this is it right here. I either man up, or hesitate and I will miss my opportunity. I let Stephanie answer first. After a few generic but wonderful answers from Stephanie about how the food throughout the day was enjoyable, it was my turn. I began with generic answers of my own mimicking her adoration for the food we had that day. However, I got to my final response and that is when I stood up. I told her that my final favorite part of that day would be this one... I proceeded to get on one knee, I pulled out the ring, told her a lot of nice things (which she doesn't remember because she blacked out due to the surprise), and asked her to marry me.