We're Getting Married!

Now I wish I could tell you a romantic story of how two people fell in love but in all honestly our love for helping others & us doing our jobs is what really brought us together. The first time we remember being officially introduced was on Good Friday 2017. Jose arrived to Vanessa's job with his partner MJ who was one of Vanessa’s good friends, to help guide the procession & direct traffic in the NYPD smart car or as Sariah & Vanessa called it “The Toy Car.” Vanessa & Sariah spent the entire procession making fun of Jose to the point Vanessa thought she was going to get fired for laughing on the most somber day of the year. Although this is where our story officially began we went our separate ways & didn’t keep in touch after the procession. Fast forward to the passing of a member of the community brought us to the same place at the same time. We began to catch up talking about the craziness that we were enduring due to the pandemic & how our ministries have changed. Jose offered his assistance with anything we needed. I’m sure if you ask him right now he’ll say he doesn’t regret it b/c it brought us together but at the time I’m sure he must have regretted saying “Call him if anything” with as many times as I had called him. Jose would come by make sure everything was taken care of so much so that Fr. Brendan used to joke & say “Pretty soon we’re going to have put him on payroll.” A few weeks before Christmas of 2021 the precinct gathered clothing, toys, & gift cards to help families affected by a gas explosion that left many homeless. Jose needed a space for the families gather so he called in a favor to Vanessa. After seeing us interact that day Barbara looked at Vanessa & said “You know he’s interested in you right?” Vanessa told her she was crazy & he’s overall like that always making people laugh & making conversation. For those of us that know Barbara she is always betting on people, she looked at Carlos & said “How much you wanna bet these two end up together?” & Since you guys are here I guess it’s safe to say she won the bet as she usually does lol. As time went on we became pretty much inseparable. From work events to family events, to hangouts with friends, or just dancing in the sala just because. Our relationship was effortless. Vanessa kept her guard up a bit b/c it just seemed all too easy the way Jose clicked with all of her family & friends & the way that Jose & Sariah bonded, it truly felt like Vanessa had found the missing piece of her puzzle. Jose will say that Vanessa & Sariah came into his life at the perfect time & fulfilled a void that he had. From the very first time he came to a Sunday Family Dinner with all of the Garcia craziness he felt that he had found what had been missing all along. As the months went by he decided that he no longer wanted to be just friends or as the family would call him “The Buffer” lol. So he decided to sit down individually with Sariah, Carlos, Barbara & Macho to ask how they would feel if he asked Vanessa to take their relationship to the next level. Sariah was over the moon, & the rest gave him their blessing with the condition that he would take care of their two girls. On July 4th Jose asked Vanessa to be his girlfriend & Vanessa said Yes! She knew deep down that Jose was the guy that she had prayed for all this time. In December Jose once again sat down with Barbara & Carlos, Macho, & Sariah but this time to ask for Vanessa’s hand in marriage. He said that this had been the happiest he had been in a very long time & when you know you know, so why wait. So on December 24th after family dinner in their matching pj’s Jose proposed asking Vanessa to be his wife & to Sariah asking her to be his daughter. Surrounded by so much love and support, it truly was so beautiful and the best day thus far.