I walked into my new high school not knowing heads or tails of the place and, of course, I looked terrified. Next thing I know, a friendly upperclassmen asked me if I needed help. I was skeptical as teenagers spread rumors about upperclassmen taking you to the wrong place for fun but I had a deep feeling I could trust this guy. A week later, I met with my first theater group and I recognized his friendly face. After 2 years of putting on shows, fun times outside of school and building a friendship, he graduated. We kept in touch for more than 10 years after that.

It was a perfect day in the middle of August. We got in a train to NYC to meet friends at a theater in Times Square to see the Spongebob Musical. Sabriana is a big Spongebob fan. She asked if I had everything on me. Phone, wallet, etc. Just then, I broke into a cold sweat and panic set in. I forgot the ring in the car! We were already halfway to Penn Station so I had to get another train back to our station to get it. I told her I forgot my wallet as I usually do so she was thrown off the scent. I was successfully able to get the ring, run back to the train and get to the theater in time and only missed the opening song "Bikini Bottom Day". After the show, we had dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp because of Sabriana's insatiable appetite for seafood. She asked me why I was so quiet. I told her I was tired but, really, I was a nervous wreck! After leaving the restaurant, I used our friends as a decoy. They asked Sabriana to take their picture and as she turned around to take one with me, she saw me on one knee, ring in hand, right in the middle of the Crossroads of the World, our favorite part of the city. The look on her face was the most inspiring things I've ever seen. One of shock and pure happiness. I began to worry because her mouth was agape and no words were coming out. Time itself stood still and the world blurred away. I stood up and she wrapped her arms around me with a cacophony of onlooker's cheering and then it clicked... She said yes. We're engaged.