On a rainy night in Brooklyn in November of 2018, on the way home from work, after extensive delays on the J train crossing the Williamsburg Bridge into Brooklyn, I called a shared Lyft hoping it was the fastest way home. Little did I know that short Lyft ride would change my life forever. I got into the car and lamented to my co-passenger how terrible the MTA was (NYers can relate). If you know Hannes, you'll understand when I say that what I intended to be a passing comment quickly blossomed into a detailed conversation where we discovered our shared passions of soccer and music, and Southern roots, and we exchanged numbers. Hannes asked me to go out to drinks the next night and from there, we became inseparable. Many nights I made the 12-minute walk to Johannes's small closet-sized studio apartment to get away from my 3 roommates and shoebox-sized apartment. A winter trip to the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania a few months later is where Hannes confessed his love for me, and from there our love grew exponentially. -Molly

After enduring the Covid Lockdowns in New York for most of 2020, we looked at 2021 with hope and anticipation. With a new 2 bedroom apartment in Bedstuy, a new addition to our little family (Shirley), and the promise of a summer family trip to Puerto Rico, there was lots to look forward to. I knew, (and I'm sure that Molly did too), that surviving 2020 not only made us closer, but also our relationship stronger, our trust in each other, and our trust in God while the world seemed to be going mad. It was this, among with countless other factors that caused me to think "I've got to put a ring on it". I bought a ring, and then with careful saving and planning (and a lot of help from my sisters, my mother, and my aunt), I decided that I'd pop the question on Luquillo Beach in PR. A beautiful beach that our family had visited many times before. As we relaxed on the beach, and the moment creeped closer, the family decided to "take a walk" together to the predetermined spot. Molly, totally in her own world at the beach, collected shells and waved palm leaves on the way there, oblivious to what lay ahead. Then the moment came, I told Molly "let's take a picture here" as the entire family looked on in anticipation, cameras on us and I thought "now or never" and got on one knee... the rest is history ;) -Hannes