We're getting married!

Technically, our first date was 7 years ago. The date was lovely, but the timing just wasn't right. Jasmin was making her way through nursing school and Mark was almost 30 but living like he was still 21. Over the years, Mark occasionally wondered about the beautiful Dominican girl that got away. Every once in a while he would send a text to see how she was doing. To his amazement, in the summer of 2018, she was receptive to one of the yearly feeler messages he would throw out, and we went on our 2nd first date 5 years later. We picked up where we left off in 2013 as if there wasn't a gulf of time between our first and second dates.

A year after our second first date, we planned a hiking trip to the Catskills, New York. What was meant to be a trip of exploring and glamping, turned out to be the best hike of my life. Mark waited for a private moment during our hike and trailed behind me. He called my name and I thought that he was joking when I turned around and saw him on one knee with Coco. Of course, I said yes and smiled for the rest of the uphill trek.