In the Dominican Island, home of approximately 70,000 people and one of the only islands that remains true to its geographic and natural beauty since discovery, is also the home of the bride and groom's love story. Donald and Sheida met in Miami while completing a rigorous program to get admission into ROSS University school of Medicine. However, their friendship did not consolidate until the island.

The first time I saw Sheida was in a class where she stared at me as I walked out the room. She will deny it to her dying breath but she was checking me out. I was definitely doing the same but I never denied it. Of course every time I tried to talk to her, she played hard to get. I still would bother her on my study breaks. As the semester ended we both went our separate ways awaiting the beginning of a medical school in the Caribbean. On the island we were focused on our studies and enjoying our little free time. At some point in the island, while we were solely on greeting terms, Sheida had gotten really sick and missed a lot of class time. For whatever reason on a random day before a very difficult exam she came to me to confide all she had been through in the previous weeks and asked if I had any advice for the upcoming exam. The next day she made me pasta and brought it to me to the library. After that, it was a wrap. Over the next year we became best friends. Being the gentleman I am, I walked Sheida home everyday after studying. We would enjoy most if not all meals together and go up to her apartment that was located on a tall hill in the middle of the day to walk her dogs. At some point we admitted our love for each other and made commitments to one another to get to know each other even more. Around this time a huge category 5 hurricane was approaching our tiny island of Dominica. I was studying for an exam and brushed off the hurricane as a ploy by the government to increase spending. Sheida prepared for the hurricane with her friends in her place as I studied at my place. As it became apparent that we would get a direct hit from a monster hurricane I decided to venture to the top of the hill to be with Sheida and prepare for a beating of a lifetime.

At the time Sheida had 2 dogs (one of which she adopted as a wild island puppy). This wild dog howled and cried and pissed itself all night. We huddled together as the strong winds tried to force itself into our little one bedroom concrete apartment. When the night passed, we looked outside and it looked like a forest fire had gone through and destroyed the entire island. We spent the next week waiting to be rescued. In the meantime we played zombie apocalypse and guarded our apartment block, bathed in the river, made meals for our friends and scrambled to find a way to get Sheida’s dogs home. I ended up adopting one of her dogs so that I could bring him home as an emotional support animal. Unfortunately I had been ordered to board a boat without Sheida so...I left her behind for St Lucia were I spent two days in an all inclusive resort. It was the only place that accepted such a large group in short notice. When I got to the resort in St Lucia, I refused to leave without Sheida. She was on her way to St Lucia in a Soviet era cruise ship. Thankfully she made it out safely (although if you ask her it was a horrifying experience and someone tried to eat her dogs). I surprised her on the boat and were together once again. That day we caught a flight to Miami. Our love story continued as we moved together living in different states to study and traveled together whenever we could. When we finally made it back to NY I decided it was time to take our relationship to the next level and I proposed to the love of my life. When we first started to get to know one another I always told Sheida I could really write a book about our love story but it would never capture the emotions we felt, sights we’ve seen or the incredible people who have impacted us on the way.

Although Donald might believe I was checking him out, in reality I thought he was the professor. Soon after I realized he wasn’t a professor, but indeed a student. He made us all believe he was a history teacher whom realized he was destined to be a doctor and therefore sacrificed everything to pursuit his dreams. As our preparation course for medical school progressed, I would study in a room every Saturday and Sunday from 8am-8pm. Donald would randomly walk into my room with no shoes on to ask me the most random questions about the material. I recall telling my friends back home, “there’s this tall annoying guy who continuously walks into my room to ask me random questions.” One day, he asked me to buy him a Gatorade and that he would pay me back. I kindly, got him the Gatorade and he never payed me back. I was so furious and thought he was the most irresponsible person ever. My mother always told me if someone doesn’t know how to pay back a dollar, you can’t trust them with a thousand. Well, the annoying tall guy really rubbed off on me especially after finding out his birthday was October 5; the same day as the most special person in my life, my brother. Towards the end of our course prior to going to the island, I recall messaging him on Facebook to see if he successfully passed the course. He never responded. When we got to the island, the unexpected happened to me. I got sick and had to be transported to the capital, an 1hr and 30 min drive to see the nearest doctor. I had to take 10 pills a day 2x a day with IV antibiotics daily to remain in the island to finish my course. Loneliness, fear and hopelessness was all I felt at the moment. I had missed so much class and was so behind I had an immense feeling of disappointment. As I sat in the cafeteria eating my lunch right before going to the clinic, Donald approached me and asked me how my day was. A simple statement changed my life forever.

I exploded and told him slightly what I was going through and how fearful I was for the upcoming exams we had. He told me not to worry, to go to the old library and that he would give me some study guides to help me. I saw him in the library and approached him for help. I failed the semester, but I would experience it all over again if it ended like this again. Donald became my best friend on the island. He became my protector, my guardian and safety. While I was in much denial about my feelings, it was impossible to hide them after introducing my best friend to him. I thought they were a perfect match, and after realizing how much they got along, I couldn’t deny I didn’t want him with anyone else but me. We proceeded to give it a try even though it included risking our friendship. Hurricane Maria happened and it was just another demonstration of his love, compassion and respect to me. We continued our journey in medical school and still do. He motivates me to be a better person, to believe in myself and to continuously push myself to the limit. When Donald got sick in Miami and needed emergent surgery, it was the defining moment in my life that showed me that this was the man I one day want to marry and spend the rest of my life with.