¡Gracias por celebrar con nosotros!

Sandra and Joe first met over the phone - doing work for the Catholic Church in Wyoming. Sandra chairs the Hispanic Ministry Planning Team, and Joe joined this group shortly after beginning his service in the Diocese of Cheyenne. It took many ... MANY ... months before Joe worked up the courage to ask Sandra to a date. They had worked together and worshiped together for many months, until one night Joe sent Sandra a text: "I am on your side of the hill tonight. Are you free for coffee or dinner?" Note: Joe was not in Laramie, but actually in Cheyenne! Sandra asked her sister Erica, "Do you think this is a date or do you think he wants to offer me a job?" That night, the two talked for several hours at a restaurant in downtown Laramie - so long that the staff had to ask them to leave so they could close! Joe continued to struggle with actually asking Sandra out on a date. They met several more times for what they now call "not-a-dates," until Joe finally grew the courage to ask, "Next time we do this, can we call it a date?" From that first dinner when Sandra and Joe discussed the literature of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, to car dates during the early days of the pandemic, to Joe finally realizing that he could ask for an in-person date months into their dating, the two have been sure companions for each other. Their shared interest in faith, art, and working for social justice support a relationship that is nourishing to them and committed to the support and betterment of all.

Sandra and Joe had been dating for almost ten months when he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. They began discussing the prospect of marriage, and even began their marriage preparation at the parish before a proposal. Joe's mom shipped her parents rings from St. Louis to Cheyenne. Once Joe received them, he knew he had to keep them in a safe location, and chose his locking desk drawer at work. With great help from Sandra's siblings - Pepe, Diana, and Erica - Joe planned a proposal party for the big day. (Let's be honest, Sandra's siblings actually planned it!) As the four of them worked out the details of the day of the proposal, Joe also happened to lose the key to his desk drawer! Fr. Rob graciously let him borrow a drill, and Joe's supervisor, Tammy, said, "Drill that thing out!" when he asked for permission to retrieve the ring! Leading up to the proposal, Sandra already knew what was coming, largely because Joe does not know how to keep a surprise! For example, on the day of the proposal, Joe made sure NOT to lose the ring a second time, so he decided to keep it in his coat's breast pocket. Early in the afternoon, Sandra placed her head on Joe's shoulder, and then reached up with her hand to grab the ring box outside of the coat. While smiling and laughing, she said, "Really?!" Shortly after, the two traveled to the footbridge in downtown Laramie. Sandra and Joe share many memories there, including when they became an official couple during their car dates early in the pandemic. While Sandra's family stood freezing on the bridge on a cold, windy, Wyoming winter day, Joe went to one knee and asked, "Do you want to make a new memory here, too?" Sandra agreed to marry him! Then Sandra's family came down the bridge, greeted them, and reminded Joe that he had changed the plans on them! So he repeated what he said to Sandra ... dropped the ring, which Sandra's cousin Rafael brought back, and said yes a second time!