We’ve known each other since we were 8 years old, but we didn’t become friends until we got to middle school. When we got to our junior year in high school we were placed in the same class and that’s where it all began.

After graduating from high school we decided to make things easy on ourselves and try long-distance… for 5 years. With Arturo in Chicago and me in Ohio, this meant many interesting bus trips, late-night phone calls, and endless texting. So I guess you could say we kind of liked each other because we stuck it out. Now we live together in Chicago, our second home, and have absolutely no intention of doing long-distance ever again.

We had a plan to go away for the weekend so when Arturo called me and said he had booked a place for that very week I wasn't suspicious. He said it would be a surprise so I got excited, and we took off. My surprise landed me in an amazing Michigan-based cabin we'd heard about from a friend. Once we started to unpack he said he had an extra surprise for me that he would need to set up. Needless to say, I got excited. After settling in, Arturo announced it was time to set up the surprise but that I shouldn't get my hopes up too much. Apparently, my excitement was too obvious. This left me sitting alone in a dark cabin while Arturo set up the best surprise of my life. After over an hour and an existential crisis on my part, Arturo came in, took me by the hand, and showed me the surprise. He told me he had hoped we could go stargazing that night but that since it was cloudy he had looked around to find me my own stars. He walked me around the cabin, and on the other side, I saw twinkling lights among the trees that looked like a constellation. He told me that this would not be the first nor the last time he would need my help as he handed me an extension cord. I plugged it in and the constellation burst into the words: MARRY ME.