Our story started a little over 5 years ago and I wouldn’t change it for anything. During PA school, I met Naveen’s sister, Nesa, who was a huge instigator in getting us to talk. She would always intentionally talk about her “older brother” in front of me. Although hesitant at first, I decided to take my chances with Naveen by talking to him over Facebook. Before I knew it, we exchanged numbers and began to text each other all day long. One night we decided to give each other a call. Anticipating awkward silences, we were both shocked to realize that we had been on the phone for 8 hours. I never knew I would be able to talk to someone so easily to the point where I lost track of time. Eventually, Naveen asked me out on our first date. We met in South Orange and made plans to go the movies (typical first date, yes I know). During our 8-hour long phone call, we both realized that we loved The Lord of the Rings. Coincidentally, our first date was to go see The Hobbit. When I first got into his car, I decided to be DJ and wanted to play music off his phone. The very first song on his playlist was ‘If I Lose Myself’ by One Republic, which was my favorite at the time. I had no idea it was one of his favorites too! And ever since then, this has been our song. During our date, Naveen kept me laughing and smiling and gave me butterflies. Five years later, and those butterflies are still there. Despite the distance and opposing schedules, we have gotten through many milestones together. From graduate school to earning our first jobs, we have been each other’s rock through the ups and the downs. Our journey is just beginning, but I am so excited and blessed to know I get to call my best friend, my husband, in just a few more months!

One of the greatest qualities that attracted me to Sibil, was that she is so family-oriented. She even treats our friends like extended members of the family as well. This characteristic motivated me the most when planning our proposal. I knew deep down that we both wanted all our loved ones to share this moment with us. After all, we wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them. In May of 2018, I tricked Sibil into sending me her calendar for the rest of the year. I knew God was on my side because the only weekend that we were both free was July 21, 2018. And so, I thought it was only right to immediately inform her that I would be visiting Baltimore that weekend. After our parents gave me their blessings, I called or texted everyone to notify them of my plans. I decided the proposal would be in West New York, NJ because the view was incredible. Our friends and family committed to travel from all over the country to help make this day perfect. July 21st arrived and it was raining. It was crunch time and the stress was real. I couldn’t control the rain but to be honest, I didn’t care. Rain or shine…nothing was going to stop me from giving Sibil the proposal that she always imagined. Despite the rain, everyone showed up and even helped me set up a few hours earlier. My sister even bought a small tent to cover us during the proposal. If that’s not being prepared, then I don’t know what is! I asked my future nephew and niece to surprise her and walk her down to me when she arrived. Her blue dress and contagious smile will forever be engraved in my mind. To her surprise, she saw over a hundred people waiting for our moment. As I bent down on one knee, I told her, “All of these people made it here today because they love you and they love us. But even all that love combined doesn’t compare to how much I love you. Will you marry me?” Fast forward a year from then, and I get to call my better half, my wife.