It was a week before Easter in 2014, where the Kennedy Center hosted ABT’s annual performances in Washington. After opening night I wanted to go back to the hotel, but my friend Luciana Paris convinced me to go to ABT's reception at the Peacock Cafe. When we arrived the event was already filled with people, where dancers and guests were talking, meeting and networking with one another. At first I was mingling with people, but later I got super tired from standing the whole time. I later spotted some seats at the bar and was surprised no one was sitting there except this one gentleman. I pointed to the seat next to him and asked, “may I sit here” he turned around with a friendly smile and with slight shyness answered with a deep voice: “no one is sitting here.” I liked his energy right away, was curious about DC culture, and was delighted to chat with this person while resting. I started asking questions and was happy that he didn’t get annoyed by me. As we both got more comfortable we talked about everything, from the city of DC, to “House of Cards”, from eating food at the event, to being caught eating on camera by DC paparazzi, from movies to politics, from living in NYC to visiting NYC... the evening flew by so quickly and before we knew it, it was time for us dancers to go home and rest. At that very moment he asked me for my number. I have had guys ask for my number before but my rule is to never give out your number to a stranger only provide an email. However, somehow in this case I felt safe and assumed I could trust him right away. I then formally wrote down my whole name w/ American Ballet Theatre and a number on his phone, as if it was a successful business meeting. As we were saying goodbye my friend Luciana met with me and whispered, “awe he’s cute.” I replied, “he is, but I will probably never see him again.” We both then laughed. Looking back, who would have known that night would become our night of destiny & forever be in our book of memories...

My friends Kouri and Travis were hitting me up all night to go hang out at an event in Georgetown, however I made it clear that I was going home after work. When I finally left the office late that evening, I started my walk to the Metro station then suddenly received a call saying they were outside of my office. It was a cold evening in DC, so I hopped in the car hoping they would drop me off at home. Instead, we arrived to the Peacock Cafe and we all sat at the bar to grab food and drinks. I enjoyed ginger ale, as I was fasting during the time asking God to expand my territory. As we all engaged in conversation, a beautiful young lady came to the bar counter and was placing an order. As she stood there, she asked me what I ordered. My friends leaned over to me and said “we think she is digging you.” We ended up talking the whole night and we discovered many similarities, like our love for the Netflix television show House of Cards. I learned that she was a ballerina living in New York, and at the time my little brother Dustin lived in New York as well - so I asked for her digits and texted her the next morning. Later, she invited me to the Ritz Carlton to meet her friends Luciana and Herman. As I prepared to head out to meet up with her, I put on a casual button down shirt and slacks and preceded to head out the door. Right before leaving, I called Kouri and told him that I was about to meet up with the lady I met at the Ritz. He exclaimed, “this is an official event at the Ritz and you can’t walk in a button down and slacks!” When I arrived in full formal wear, it turned out that ABT was staying at the Ritz hotel and everyone was in the lobby in casual clothes and I awkwardly walked up to Z and her friends to chat. The end of the night that I first met Z was the start of the beginning of our life together. Thank God that I was fasting during that time, indeed my territory has been expanded - because I met Z.

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