We're married!

In 2014, Mariel was celebrating her 24th birthday at Chumley’s in Downtown Melbourne when her co-worker Bruce stopped by with his brother Michael and their friend Edwin. That was the first time Michael and Mariel met. It seems that she made quite the impression. One year later, Bruce tells Michael that he is going Downtown for Mariel’s birthday and Michael decides to join him. This time, Bruce officially introduces them. By the end of the night, Michael was walking Mariel to her friend Rachel's car. They spent their entire birthday weekend texting and met up again on Michael’s birthday. That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

On September 9, 2019, Michael made a steak dinner for Mariel in their home. Something very rare, as Mariel is the cook of the relationship. As they sat down to dinner, Michael gave Mariel a gift. It was a beautiful watch just like what she had been saying she wanted for a while. So, she thought that was the reason he was making her this special dinner as a moment to give her this gift. As they finished their meal, Michael says he has one more thing for her and “this one has been a long time coming” as he stands up from his seat and gets down on one knee. He expressed how he wanted to spend the rest of their lives together and asked Mariel to marry him. To which she responded YES!

After some time together, once assured of their commitment to each other, Mariel met the other loves of Michael's life... his daughters. Julia, Emily, and Alexis have been a blessing in Mariel's life and a constant source of joy and adventure for this couple.