I was volunteering for a program called Camp College for about 5 years. I decided to attend the camp at Canisius College. The names of my fellow mentors in my mentor group, were sent out before the camp and I was disappointed to see none of my friends were added to my group. One name did stick out which was William DeFreece because he worked at SUNY Delhi where my friend Lauren used to work. Camp started and we began planning for our students that would be in our mentor group. I kept thinking to myself how tough Will was going to be on the students as he kept emphasizing discipline. My exact thought was "This guy needs to chill out, camp is about having fun." Camp progresses throughout the weekend and a flirtation started to happen between both of us (Will even made me a little pipe cleaner gift which I still have). It continued after camp when he wanted to make sure I got back safely, keeping up to date on my progress to NYC, and letting me know when he passed my hometown Rochester on his way back home. The following Monday after camp he asked to take me out sometime when he was down in New York City for work. As the week went on we began to communicate more and started to video chat (which I was so nervous to do at first). We found that we would talk for hours and text all day long wanting to know more and more about each other. During the course of the week he kept asking me to come visit Delhi. I kept saying no every time he asked. We were talking on Friday night and he asked me again, finally I said "If you want to see me so bad then you should come down to NYC." He paused, thought about it and then said "Yeah, I'll come down tomorrow". Even though he said this I doubted that he would. I thought he was going to come up with some excuse as to why he couldn't come. Sure enough on Saturday he sends me a snap which shows me that he's on his way down to NYC. That Saturday we went on our first date for sushi and we have been inseparable ever since.

This past year Will and I decided to have Thanksgiving in Massachusetts with his family as we wanted to spend Thanksgiving together instead of apart. It was also a special year because it was my 30th birthday. Fast forward to Thanksgiving Day which was full of relaxation, family, and laughs. After all the family arrived after dinner, Will tells everyone to come into the living room for me to cut the cake for my birthday. I cut the cake and Will immediately takes my hand and his uncle takes the cake spatula out of my other hand. At this point we are standing facing each other. He tells me how much he loves me and he wants to have a family with me along with other things. I started to tear up and he gets down on one knee and says "Rianna, will you marry me?" I immediately say yes and start crying. It was such a joyous moment for ourselves and our families. It seemed like everyone was crying in the room right after it happened. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my life with the man of my dreams!