We're celebrating!

Jeffrey Laretto and Paloma Secunda went for sushi on their first date - Jeff carefully calibrating the amount of alcohol necessary to eat raw fish and still seem polite and coherent (and nailing it). On their third date it came out that Jeff was quite a picky eater - no sushi, no octopus (despite him having eaten both of those on the previous dates) and definitely no eggs. On their fifth date, they went to a steak dinner, ordered a bottle of wine, and went to a movie (Blade Runner 2049) where they both promptly fell asleep. In the taxi ride home, they googled the plot, and both decided it sounded like a great movie, despite neither of them seeing it to this day. Jeff and Paloma continued to make memories over the next five years, traveling all over the world and exploring New York together. During that time Paloma went to graduate school at Columbia getting a MS in Bioethics and then moving to work as a software engineer, Jeff got promoted to partner at Cooley, and they moved from Flatiron to the Meatpacking district. When the pandemic hit (wild times) - Jeff and Paloma moved in with Paloma's parents in Colorado (joining Paloma's little sister Eliana and her partner at the time). This was an amazing chance to begin to bring these families together through lots of Dominion, Settlers of Catan, Risk, a new puppy, and PBS News Hour. The broader families have been able to spend even more time together at Thanksgivings and Christmases in Mexico, DC, and Colorado and are incredibly excited to formally join the Secunda-Laretto Clan. On New Years of 2020-2021, right after watching the fireworks from their liveaboard diving boat in Thailand, Jeff got down on one knee and proposed. Paloma, obviously, said yes. We can't wait to celebrate our love and toast our way into this next phase of our lives with all of you!