We met in late August of 2017 at a bus stop in New York City. I'm a true New Yorker, originally from Queens, NY, and have lived in NY most of my life. Bryce is a NY transplant; he was born in Trinity, North Carolina, and he moved to NY in early 2017. As luck would have it, we both were added to a group thread to attend the same event. Never having met, we messaged back and forth and agreed to meet up at West 34th and 11th Avenue to ride the Megabus together. On that fateful August day, Bryce met me at the bus stop. My initial impression of him was that he seemed friendly, open, and someone easy to get along with. We got on the bus together and for the next 2 1/2 hours, we spoke about our lives, our individual goals, our families, past relationships, our fears, our desires— we covered it all! I was pleasantly surprised to find out how much we both shared in common. After that initial day, we became inseparable. We started going out to eat on a weekly basis, hanging out with our mutual friends, going to the movies, listening to live music, and, of course, ice skating. I love to ice skate! In fact, I think it was the ice skating that really brought us even closer. I had been an avid ice skater for the past year, and I taught him how to skate. He had last stepped on an ice rink when he was a kid, so he appreciated my help with navigating the ice again. In a few short weeks, he got really good at ice skating— even better than me, I might add. This impressed me about him, his persistence and courage that he showed on the rink. Every time he would fall, he always laughed it off and got right back up until he learned how to glide on the rink. So for months, we would go ice skating together, spend quality time together, and that is how our story started, with us becoming very close friends— yes, just friends. I did try a few times to see if we could be more than friends, but Bryce turned down my many advances. He was just not looking to date at the time, and he didn't want to ruin our special friendship. Well, after 2 years of me trying and failing to get him to see me as more than a friend, I decided that I would just accept our friendship and close the door on any romantic possibilities with him. What I didn't realize at the time is that everything happens for a reason, and just because things didn't progress the way I wanted, doesn't mean that it could never happen in the future. It wasn't until November of 2020 that I reopened the possibility of a romantic future with Bryce. At the time, we were both single, and we both had become very interested in the world of Tantra— a "spiritual journey of learning how to become better lovers both in and outside the bedroom"— and through the Tantra Institute NYC community, and the teachings and knowledge that we gained from it, we eventually started dating and seeing if our friendship could transition to a successful romantic relationship. Thankfully, it did! I will say that getting involved romantically with my best friend was one of the scariest decisions I ever made, and despite all the fear I felt, I still chose to act on it and follow my heart. Shortly after we started dating, we decided to move in together, and after almost 2 years of living together, Bryce proposed to me at the top of the World Trade Center on Valentine’s Day of this year. I was so surprised when he popped the question, and I cried tears of joy. He chose the perfect restaurant and day to propose to me, and I am so blessed and grateful that he did. Now, as we embark on the next chapter in our lives together, we are planning a beautiful wedding celebration for October 2024, and we hope you will join us in celebrating our love. With love, Bryce & Leslie