Keith & I met long ago in middle school. Introduced by a very special friend in common, we’d spend weekends at New Roc holding hands and flirting. Turns our middle school “relationship” didn’t last long (shocker!). We went our separate ways and didn’t cross paths again until our early 20s seeing each other at the bars here and there. Fast forward 5 years, we’ve found ourselves texting every day. Texting turned into FaceTimes, which later turned into spending weekends together and before we knew it we were together every night. Whether he was at my apartment, or I was up in the mountains (as I like to call it) aka Mahopac, we had built each other into our lives.

Giovanna’s POV: On what was probably the coldest night of 2022, my person asked me to spend the rest of my life with him at my favorite place in NYC surrounded by the people I love the most. I remember trying to put my hands in his jacket pocket to warm up — which later I came to find out why — and him instantly trying to push it away. The feeling of a thousand butterflies in my stomach. A day I will forever cherish. The phrase “when you know, you know” had never made more sense than that exact moment. Keith’s POV: Something that I knew I couldn't wait any longer, spending another day without asking her to be my wife. I went the entire day and night thinking she knew I would propose, to then find out she was more surprised than ever. A feeling I will forever cherish: seeing how happy she was at that exact moment.

Keith was the love I didn’t know I needed. “1 Corinthians 13:4–8 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” There are a million ways to define love, but there is always one factor, one ingredient, one common denominator that remains the same: Your person isn't just a person. Your person is your home. Keith is my home.