It is nearly impossible to know exactly when Manué and Jennifer met. As young kids, they participated in the same youth theatre group, “Star Pak” for years. In their teenage years, they attended the same high school and had some overlap of friends but did not truly interact until their senior year. Manué can still remember, in vivid detail, walking into Mr. Biggs’ first period AP Literature class on the first day of school and seeing the seat to the left of his eventual Best Man, Vincent, was full. Fortunately, the seat to Vincent’s right was empty. When he sat there, to his right was a beautiful and wildly intelligent girl with whom he was soon partnered with to discuss the summer reading. After being mesmerized for an hour, Manué remarked to Vincent after class that he hoped to talk to that girl again, to which the now-fated Best Man gave a sigh and rolled his eyes. The next 9 months were marked by constant attempts from both Manué and Jennifer to get one to notice the other. Hints were dropped, and promptly missed. Nevertheless, the pair sat next to each other in every class. Their teacher, for some odd reason, continually paired them for projects and assignments. Eventually the clock was almost out. Prom was a month away, and only a week later graduation would follow. Seizing his chance, Manué wrote the first of many poems that he would write for Jennifer, asking her to prom. She said yes. On the dance floor of the Nixon Library, to the music of the jazz band, their love story finally began.

Over the next six years, the two would experience many life experiences that would build their relationship into what it is today. Going to school on opposite ends of the state, with Jennifer at UC San Diego and Manué at UC Berkeley, Skype was essentially an unofficial third member of their relationship, with calls lasting all the way up to 8 hours. But one of the best parts of long distance was exploring each other’s worlds–many nights were spent eating Vallarta’s carne asada fries (iykyk) and up north, many days were spent wandering around San Francisco. On breaks and after graduating, they traveled together, going to New York, Santa Barbara, Solvang, and Monterey. But they also found the joys of staying in and playing board games, cooking incredible home meals, and mixing cocktails. While the pandemic essentially was Long Distance Part 2 (despite being 3.5 miles away from each other this time), the two still continued to experience new things together, whether it was getting really into virtual marble races (look up Jelle’s Marble Runs–you’re welcome) or just dreaming of all the meals they’ll make on Binging with Babish’s Youtube channel. Pandemic long distance dating behind them and now living minutes apart, the two spend more time with each other than they ever had in the past…and still aren’t sick of each other. So far so good.

From their second date, Manué knew that he wanted to marry Jennifer, but now he was finally ready to do it. It was 2022, Jennifer and Manué had planned a great vacation to Northern California and back, with stops in San Francisco, Napa Valley, and Santa Barbara. He was ready: he had picked the place for his proposal, received Jennifer’s family’s blessing, and bought the ring. After a wonderful day in San Francisco, they headed to the Palace of Fine Arts and encountered the wonders of San Francisco rush hour on the way, with their poor photographer waiting and watching golden hour start to fade away. When Manué and Jennifer finally arrived at their rose petal-covered and votive candlelit proposal site strewn with photos of the couple…another couple was taking photos and admiring the set up. When the couple finally moved away, Manué led Jennifer down the hill and began to speak. He had prepared a whole speech several days in advance, but as soon as he looked at Jennifer in the dimming sunlight against the backdrop of the Palace’s rotunda, all the words simply faded from his mind. He still doesn’t know what he said, but what he does know is that as he put the ring on Jennifer’s finger, he was extremely grateful that the seat next to his best friend was taken all those years ago.