We're Getting Married!

We were both teenagers at Washington Irving High School. Since we majored in different disciplines we didn't actually meet until our junior year. I remember when she walked into my class which was weird because we didn't share any classes. 😂 I asked my friend "Hey, who is that?" "That's Karen, you don't know her?" he replied. At that time, I can admit, I was shook. I remember all the guys gathered around her telling jokes as kids do, while I quietly observed. Then I caught her gaze and she asked "Hey, why you so quiet over there." Still shook, I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders. We would become friends during that school year and I would gather the courage to ask her out later that year. To my dismay, she turned me down. To many, that may have been where the story ended, but the universe was not done with us.

We reconnected in the summer of 2018 and were caught off guard at how spending time with each other felt so easy. Long and honest conversations allowed us to feel the safe and warm embrace of love. It felt like finally arriving home after going through difficult journeys of our own. In a matter of months, we made the crazy decision to not only go away on a weekend trip, but to travel internationally to Ireland. We went fully knowing how important the outcome of this trip would be to the future of our relationship, and were both pleasantly surprised. Even though traveling can be stressful, my love for travel and Dennis' sense of adventure was the perfect combination for a great time. It’s always a great rush to get our passports stamped and we would travel the world a million times over as long as we’re together. Just like any other couple, 2020 felt like a testing year. While many couples suffered woes, Dennis and I grew stronger. Being scared and concerned at the chaos that surrounded us, we looked out for each other, we got our essentials together, we protected each other and most importantly we never got tired of spending endless amounts of time together. That year, we tried new things. We found joy in cooking and trying new recipes! We got every streaming service known to man-kind and enjoyed watching everything from 90 Day Fiancé to Castlevania. In almost 6 years, we’ve created many scrapbooks of awesome memories. We traveled to many different countries, had countless adventures in NYC and even moved into our first home, which we share lovingly with Moo. We’ve taken interests in each other’s passions such as birdwatching, and Kate Hudson movies! We've created our own fairytale and we cannot wait to write the next chapter in our book of love.

To celebrate our first year anniversary, we jetted off to London. We walked the Millennium bridge and while taking pictures, a violinist began playing "All of me" by John Legend, and I looked at Dennis and said "If only you had a ring, this would've been the perfect moment to propose". We laughed, and went on to enjoy one of the most fabulous nights in London we could have ever hoped for. For Christmas, he gifted me The Couple's Bucket List and not long after, we picked a card, "Do A Photoshoot Together" it said, and on May 28th 2022, we did just that! Little did I know that not only were we going to take pictures of each other, but Dennis had a plan all of his own. As we get to The Bow Bridge in Central Park, he asked me to look into the city while he took a picture. While I'm "posing" a violinist begins to play "All Of Me". A memory gets triggered...London! I turn to tell him and to my delight, there he was, on bended knee. My eyes filled with happy tears, wanting to jump for joy but trying to keep my composure all at the same time. The world became a small stage for just the two of us. He PROPOSED and I said YES! 🥂💍