My teaching partner, Erica, invited me to her and her husband, Diego's, wedding in July 2017. Erica was trying to set me up with her cousin, Tyler, however, life had different plan. Sam, Tyler and Erica went to Syracuse together and Sam and three of his friends came to the "after" party to hang out with Tyler. Let's be honest, I had a couple of drinks and, of course, I made a bet that I could remember all of their names. When I came to Sam, I forgot his name, which led to a conversation about how I am usually so good at remembering people's names because I am a teacher. We started talking about our mutual love of Scrabble. Sam asked me if I played Words with Friends and I honestly thought to myself, "Who still plays Words with Friends?" Sam did. I naturally bet Sam to a game. If he won, I had to come meet him in Jersey City for a drink. If I won, he had to come meet me in Manhattan. I was basically trying to get Sam to ask for my number. He, of course, took his sweet old time in asking me. So I naturally told him that he wouldn't be able to play me if he didn't ask for my number. He asked. And I "rushed" his game. I entered my number in his phone as "Jenny from the Block." And to this day I am still in his phone as that title. You might be wondering who won the game. Sam did... barely. I was supposed to meet him in Jersey City, but in classic Sam fashion he met me in Manhattan like gentleman. He won me over with his kindness and easy going personality. At the end of the night, he kissed me at the end of the pier looking over Jersey City, which has since become our '"make out spot." And the rest is history. -Jenny

After 2+ years of dating, it was pretty clear that we had something special and we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. With months of planning and help from our closest friends and family, I set out to plan a day that Jenny would never forget. On September 13, 2019, we woke up with an eventful day planned. We spent the morning at Ikea shopping for furniture, went for a walk at the Brooklyn Bridge Promenade and even found time to take a nap all before dinner. With reservations at City Vineyard - where we had our first date - I figured Jenny might be somewhat suspicious, so I figured a busy day might lessen her suspicion. I tried to contain my nervous excitement, but once we were on our way to dinner that became an impossible task. Prior to our reservation, I insisted we visit the pier next to City Vineyard where we had our first kiss, a place that Jenny fondly refers to as "our makeout spot," but as we walked over Jenny pointed out that I wouldn't hold her hand and wondered if I was OK. Little did she know, I was nervously fidgeting with the ring in my pocket, constantly checking to make sure it had not gone missing. After briefly admiring the beautiful Jersey City skyline, I turned to Jenny and said "I love you very much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you." To which she replied "I know, me too." I reiterated, this time with a bit more vigor "I'm serious, I want to spend the rest of my life with you." To which she once again retorted "I know, me too." Finally I grabbed her by the shoulders, turned her towards me and once again started to say "No, SERIOUSLY" as I got down on one knee. I paused for a moment and said "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?" Fortunately for me, she said yes, and now I am the luckiest man in the world. - Sam