Graham and I met on October 10th, 2017, in New York City. But it was by accident -I was on the wrong train. I was on my way to meet a friend in Brooklyn on 9th Avenue. While on the train, I noticed it wasn’t stopping, and I started to get a little worried. I noticed this man, and when I looked at him, I felt this energy—this connection—that pushed me to ask him if the next stop was 9th St. He replied, “You’re on the wrong train.” We got off the train at the next stop, and he gave me the proper directions to help me get where I was trying to go. We exchanged numbers—he said it was just in case I got lost, so I could text him. The next day, he messaged me saying he wanted to see me, but I was at the hospital with my mom. On October 11th, they tried to operate on her cancer, but it was already too late—it had metastasized. I honestly wasn’t in the mood to talk, let alone start a relationship. My mom’s health was my priority. We lost contact for almost three months. When I finally decided to text him, he asked, “Who’s this?” I almost didn't reply, but then he explained he had lost his phone and didn’t have my number saved. I decided to give him a chance. We had our first date on December 10th and officially became a couple on December 28th—just one day before my birthday. The years went by. In 2021, Graham had a near-fatal motorcycle accident. Thankfully, he was wearing a helmet, which saved his life. He ended up having eight surgeries in total. While he was in the hospital, he proposed to me, even though he didn’t have a ring to give me. We only had one witness: Mimi, the wife of my mom’s cousin. That night, on my way back home on the train, I thought, “He won’t remember this tomorrow—he’s on so many meds.” But I was wrong. He remembered. Those weeks and months were incredibly hard for both of us. After he left the hospital, he spent several weeks in rehab. But we still managed to celebrate his birthday—September 11th—in one of Brooklyn’s parks, surrounded by friends. It was a magical and special day for both of us, because he had survived that horrible accident. We were both brave and strong enough to get through that near tragedy, and we never gave up on each other. A few weeks later, we moved to his mom’s house in Michigan, since his stepfather helped get him appointments with top doctors in Detroit. Thank God we had that support. After finishing his treatments, we moved to Puerto Rico and lived there for about 8 months. But it didn’t work out. So we moved back to NYC. It was hard for Graham to find a good job, as he couldn’t stand for long hours due to all the surgeries on his knee and leg. In fact, due to one of the jobs he found, where he stood for 12 hours a day, he had to undergo another minor surgery on his knee. He had to go through multiple rounds of therapy and ended up on disability for quite a while. We found ourselves feeling hopeless and overwhelmed once again. I was working two jobs, and Graham had a part-time job at a vape shop, which eventually closed. Life was pushing us out of where we were. We made the decision and took a leap of faith to move to Ohio. What a change. We’ve now been living in this state for almost 9 months, and we really can’t complain. Graham got his CDL license, and I work at Head Start. These past few years haven’t been easy, but we’re getting better every day! This year, we’re celebrating 8 years together and 4 years of engagement. Well, almost 5 years engaged and still not married… but if you look at everything we’ve been through, you’ll understand that there were other priorities—like Graham’s health. Honestly, we didn’t have the headspace to think about a wedding. It’s obvious that with so many setbacks, we just didn’t have the opportunity to have our wedding. We now feel that it’s finally time for our big day, and we’re more than ready to say “I do” and unite our lives in holy matrimony. -R & G!