I had just arrived in Holland, I was adjusting to living in a new country, new friends, and a new home. About one week after arriving, my apartment flatmates hosted a birthday party for our new flatmate, Fabio, and we invited the entire building of other students to come. We didn’t do anything particularly fancy, but we had food and I recall there was a saxophone rendition of happy birthday by a flatmate, so it was a solid party! There were so many new people I met that night, but there was one guy, who immediately had my attention: Simone. I saw him chatting with others from across the room, and knew I had to talk with him. I am never bold, but something overcame me and I plucked up the courage! We chatted and I tried to play it cool, even though inside I was doing somersaults! After everyone left, I couldn’t stop thinking about this boy I met. I remember from that first night, I was in disbelief of how I had met someone who was everything I had wanted and one way or another, I knew that night would change my life forever.

I love surfing, no matter the location or weather. If there are waves, I want to go. I asked everyone in our friend group and apartment building of students if they wanted to come surfing with me… in Holland, in March. And everyone said no, except for Maren. Maren was the only one that said yes. So we decided to go surfing, and we took a train to den Haag. We walked to the beach, rented surfboards, and went surfing in some absolutely ridiculously small waves. We wore head-to-toe wetsuits and it was the coldest water I have ever been in. It was freezing cold, tiny waves, but still waves!! When we came back to shore, we were so cold that we couldn’t move our faces and had freeze burn on our necks, and probably some early-stage hypothermia. So, at the surf shack, after getting back into dry clothes, we spent the afternoon in the sun warming up sitting next to each other. After that day, Maren and I were inseparable, as friends, but I think we both knew that now there was something more.

Simo knew he was going to propose months before popping the question. But he wanted to wait until the right moment, and knew that it would be right in Italy. I knew we were coming to Italy obviously, but we were supposed to be with his family today in Modena. When we were getting on the last flight I asked who was picking us up from the airport, and he told me no one, we weren’t going home, and he had a surprise. In suspense and confusion, I boarded the last flight but he wouldn’t say where we were going until we landed. After landing, Simo said we were taking a train and going to Milan instead!! He had this whole day planned out. After we got there, Simo told me that we should get dressed up fancy for a walk around the city. I would have suspected but I’ve waited so long I was trying to push that idea out of my mind because I was CERTAIN he didn’t have a ring. We went for a walk around the city center and entered Castello Sforzesco. After exploring the gardens, we returned to a courtyard inside the castle grounds. In the courtyard, was a corner that was empty of people and well-lit, and once we arrived, he turned around and got down on one knee and proposed! It was perfect.