I discovered retrospectively that when Christine and I first met, it was a time of uncertainty for us both. I had moved to my third state in just over 2-years, and Christine had completed her year as a Safety Intern for, Walt Disney World and was in deep need of a job. This time of uncertainty brought us both to Tallahassee to work for Amazon. Our story officially begins in the Amazon cafeteria when I unexpectedly ran into Christine eating her lunch. I knew Christine for about 2-months, but we had never really had the opportunity to connect. She had her headphones in and was reading a book. I decided to walk up to her and ask, “do you mind if I sit with you?” With shock on her face, Christine answered, “sure!” I don’t remember the conversation in its entirety, but I do remember this was the first time we spoke about Star Wars, and she recommended that I watch “The Clone Wars” animated show on Netflix. So, I began watching the show and it created more dialogue between us. A few months into living in Tallahassee, we lived pretty separate lives. I was training jiu jitsu 10x a week and traveling to compete and Christine was rock climbing, running, and painting to pass the time. But the team we worked with started to bond outside of work. One day, Miriam (a coworker and friend), Christine, and I had plans to go to Railroad Square Park in Tallahassee. By God’s grace, Miriam cancelled, and Christine and I still decided to go. We hung out for 3 hours, reading books at the cat bookstore, buying soap from a local shop, exploring the antique shop, and eating Italian Ice. Christine found me “The Alchemist” and recommended I read it. So, I bought it and read it. The second great recommendation from Christine that I followed through on. After this date, I felt differently about Christine. A couple months after Railroad Square Park, Christine and I started to text back and forth talking about Star Wars, which really developed our friendship. One day at work, I ran into Christine in the HazWaste cage and discovered that her Abuelo had just passed. Without hesitation, I gave Christine a hug and she melted into it, which let me know that was the comfort she was needing at the time. It felt right and at that point I knew she was my forever person. I just needed an opportunity to tell her how I felt. I had a jiu jitsu tournament coming up and asked Christine if she’d like to come watch. She ended up coming! Before competing, I was standing in the bullpen and asked Christine to hold my phone and record my matches. I gave her the password to my phone; I had nothing to hide from her and had complete trust in her. After competing, I asked Christine if she would like to come to my apartment the following day and have dinner. She agreed. During that date, we communicated well, cooked in the kitchen together, and had a great time eating “secret chicken”. We watched the final two episodes of Clone Wars. Before Christine left, I stopped her from opening the door and kissed her for the first time. I then told her how I felt about her, and the rest is history. Fast forward through moving from Tallahassee to Lakeland, meeting each other’s families for the first time, and our first Disney vacation. I still feel the same way I felt about Christine when I first met her. Through all those things, I had no doubt that this is the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. I began shifting my priorities focusing on her and our life together. I saved for months on end to get her a ring fit for a princess and will work to treat her like a princess for eternity. Through the past couple of years, there has certainly been learning curves and adversity. But I feel like that has made our bond even stronger. Proposing to Christine and asking her to be my wife was the easiest decision I’ve ever had to make. I can’t wait for the rest of our lives together.