We're getting MARRIED

When Aliia first stepped foot on the River Valley Ranch campgrounds, she was just days away from having moved back to the US mainland from Puerto Rico. Raj's second summer at the camp had just begun when she saw him seemingly "bouncing" from one reunion of friends to another on that first day, and she thought to herself, "I know that guy is going to be important somehow, I just don't know why yet". About a week later when they officially met, switching between partners at a staff event while swing dancing, Raj thought it would be a good idea to throw the classic "Bee Movie" line of "So, you like Jazz?" to Aliia, and she smirked, and puzzled at this, but replied "yes" as an avid music-lover. Little did they know that this would only be the beginning of their cheesy, corny sense of humor together. Weeks later, when both had settled into their cabins leading 18+ campers in their respective programs, Aliia's cabin had a "mascot" (a stuffed bear), that they lovingly named "Brambles". Raj's cabin, full of hyper, mischievous middle schoolers, quickly picked up on this and decided to incessantly steal the bear as a type of rivalry tactic. Eventually, Raj picked up on this and would occasionally jokingly egg it on, especially once he realized that, while not entirely as distressing to Aliia as it was to her campers, it bothered and amused her and became a daily challenge. This challenge involved not telling our campers of the plan to return the bear, but rather to do it in the early hours of the morning or late at night as they slept; this kept the peace and was one of the few times to do this in a busy day of activities. Raj eventually realized this was also a good way of getting to know Aliia, and found ways to extend the conversation--which, long story short, led to often hours-long conversations, debates, talks of the future, and one day...Aliia and Raj admitted that they might be "catching feelings" for each other. Being the feminist that she is, and being the impulsive adventurer that he is, Aliia conceded that perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to meet up after they left camp and set off to college. Once they left, Raj surprised Aliia in September of her freshman (and his junior) year of college, and swept her off her feet into a date in nearby Philadelphia. Dates turned into months, and they became official and dated for a year, very much in love. However, coming into the end of the year, the two decided to part ways and broke things off for various reasons, including that the distance of 3 hours, their stages in life, and the unsurety of the future were all difficult to carry. In 2020, however, at the height of the pandemic, they found their way back to eachother unexpectedly as supports during the various protests and civil rights issues, and rejoined not over a cup of coffee, but to protest in the state of Maryland and DC. Soon enough, their love for change, community, social justice and friendship re-bound them, and in fall of 2021 they made it official again. On August 27th, 2022, on the same campgrounds they first met and the last place they'd said goodbye that first year, Raj popped the question, and Aliia said a giddy "yes"--The rest is history...or a story for a day you'll join us in very soon.