Andres and I were fast friends since we started getting to know each other just before the start of our second year at Harvard Business School. We were on our way to Provincetown, and I barely knew Andres at the time, but I will never forget his beaming smile and infectious laugh. We would be inseparable from that day forward. We explored Boston together, travelled the world together, and shared many late night pizzas together - those were the days! After graduation, Andres headed off to New York, and I to San Diego. It was in those days following graduation that I realized just how much MORE Andres meant to me. A weekend trip to New York to celebrate my birthday confirmed just how much I loved Andres, how much I missed his smile and laughter, and how much I wanted to be with him - forever. Distance does make the heart grow fonder.
The prelude to our story began the winter of 2009 in Boston. We had just returned to our second semester of graduate school full of excitement and ready to make new friends. Coincidentally, we both reached out to our mutual friend Jeff to go out on a Friday night so he decided to merge plans. When I first saw Mike, I remember thinking how handsome he looked walking towards the taxi cab I was in. To this day, Mike and I don’t agree to how that night unfolded, but we all got separated at the club and didn’t see each other for another 6-7 months. Fortuitously, It was at that same taxi cab stand that we met for a second time before a trip to Provincetown during Labor Day. From that day on, I decided we would be best friends and latched onto Mike for the next year. We were inseparable given our mutual love of late night food, traveling abroad, and laughing over the smallest of things. All our friends egged us to date during that time. It took Mike and I a longer time to realize they were right, but better late than never! I am grateful to be marrying my best friend and having all of you present, especially those that saw early on the magic between us.