FOREVER IN THE MAKING

Our story includes over two decades of knowing one another-- a story suited for the big screens... the abbreviated version: Circa 1997, during a summer visit to her aunt's (titi) house in Charlotte, NC, Lireika first met Tyler, a friend and next door neighbor of her cousins’ (primos). The second time the pair recalls seeing each other was during the summer of 2000 when Tyler traveled to Puerto Rico with his neighbors and stayed at Lireika's home for a month. A few family events such as quinceaneras and weddings between 2003-2006, found the two meet again. About ten years passed without any in-person meetings. Yet, the birth of social media allowed the two to remain distant acquaintances, only interacting to like the occasional family photos. Fast forward to the summer of 2014, an unanticipated and coincidental encounter during a training event at Fort Knox, Kentucky, as they both worked towards becoming officers in the U.S. Army (unbeknownst to them). Tyler saw a tall longed haired female walking in the distance who he thought was familiar so he took the chance and shouted, “Lireika” The girl immediately stopped and turned around, shocked, to realize it was Tyler. The two shared pleasantries and three minutes later went back to business with their military formations. More time passed without any contact or conversations until 2018 when Tyler’s mother sent him a photo with the caption, “Look at who I am with”…surprisingly it was Lireika sharing in the baby shower celebration for one of her primas. Tyler’s mom informed him later that Lireika would be moving to Maryland for Army training and suggested he text Lireika upon her arrival to share any insights about the area. In early 2019 Tyler finally contacted Lireika to see if she made it to Maryland. The pair scheduled to meet up at Penn Social in Washington, DC, on February 7th, four days before Tyler’s 27th birthday, which Lireika celebrated as well. After several months of courtship and many dates later, Tyler convinced Lirieka to try a long-distance relationship, as she was obligated to move to Texas for the Army. On May 25th, 2019, the two made it official just before Lireika was scheduled to move to Texas. Lirieka and Tyler agreed to visit one another at least once a month. In the following months, there were numerous trips on the ground and through the air for the couple. In 2019 this was an easy goal. However, when the pandemic of 2020 caused the world to pause, they replaced the flights with Facetime dates. Later that year, Lirieka left the Army and returned to Maryland with Tyler. Despite the adversity, their love story continued to blossom, and in 2021, the duo closed on their first home a few weeks later; Tyler asked Lirieka to Marry him...