Raya and I met on June 27, 2021, on Cass Ave in Detroit, right by The Old Miami Bar. She was out for a jog while I was teaching my friend Joe how to skateboard. As she passed by, I felt compelled to make a move—literally—by skating up to her. Hoping to impress her, I attempted a trick up the sidewalk. When I realized I wasn’t going to land it, I fully committed to an exaggerated fall. She stopped to ask if I was okay, and I seized the moment: “I’m okay... but I’d be much better if I had your phone number.” Without missing a beat, she simply said, “No,” and kept walking. Luckily, fate (and her cousin, who was listening through AirPods) intervened. Her cousin told her to turn around, and despite my phone being dead, I gave her my number. Three years later, on June 27, 2024, I proposed in the exact spot where it all began.