First Impressions
A week prior to P going to Durham for graduate school and me going back to Austin for college, we both meet in his godparents’ clinic, where I worked for the summer to gain medical experience. He mentioned that his heart stopped when he saw me.. I suppose the doctor would’ve been of more help in that situation.
Vividly, I remember P as a pretty suave and friendly guy. I finally got to meet the man that my coworker was adamant is the PERFECT guy for me. Hoping to capture his attention, I convinced my coworker to have him add her on Facebook. He, being the gentleman that he is, also sent me a friend request because he secretly thought of the possibilities of getting to know me better.
I decided to send him a message to wish him good luck in graduate school. After a few exchanges, he smoothly mentioned that he didn’t use Facebook very much so insisted that I text him instead.
Our first time hanging out was in October 2014 when he invited me to church on his weekend in town. I nervously waited for him outside of the chapel, hoping I won’t make a fool out of myself. He reached for a hug upon arrival, but I completely missed the signal and walked ahead of him into the chapel. He was a little disappointed to say the least. Overall, I didn’t make it easy for him, though his persistence finally paid off when I agreed to take the next step.
After six months of genuine friendship, P decided it was time to give up the single life and fly to Austin to pursue an amazing journey with me in March 2015.
1,307 Miles Apart
The start of our relationship was very challenging being apart. Endless text exchanges, FaceTime calls, care packages, and letters became the primary thread that held our relationship together. The cherished visits were once every two months or so. Many times, I’d return from work to a letter of encouragement and a bouquet of my favorite flowers on my bed that he’d leave before flying back to school.
When he graduated 2 years later, he moved back to Houston as I finished school in Austin. Fast forward 2 years and 9 months, we committed to spending the rest of our lives together on January 1, 2018!
The Thoughtfully Planned Proposal
It was finally time to invite the love of his life to become one with him. The preparation for it was both rewarding and stressful as I had always been the date planner in the relationship. P spent months planning the perfect date to ask me, making sure that the important people in our lives were in town to celebrate with us. Originally, he planned to propose in a penthouse overlooking the downtown skyline, at midnight on January 1st with fireworks in the background. However, after doing more research, his buddy found out the penthouse advertisement was a hoax. He, then, decided to propose in his backyard and decorated it with the help of wonderful friends.
Weeks before, P started collecting memorable pictures of us. He coordinated with his buddies to pick everything up while he was on family vacation with me in New Mexico. He expended all of his energy to hide this since I’m very sensitive to romantic gestures and clichés from movies and usually figure out surprises before it even happens.
Finally, the special moment arrived. A dear friend handed me scrapbook that he made, which included movie tickets from our first date, our first trip to Chicago, our first flag football championship, and many other firsts. I discarded those tickets shortly after each date. Embarrassing for me, but very thoughtful of the prince! In the scrapbook, P mentioned that we’ve been to a lot of weddings together, but attending our own would be our first.
I walked out to the beautifully decorated patio to find him standing there, expressing his love for me. Honestly, I was very nervous and couldn’t hear his declaration but when he got down on one knee, I ecstatically said yes!
Marriage
After getting married, I didn’t know what to expect living with someone else other than my parents. Besides being away for college, I’ve lived my entire life with my parents.
Some funny things we initially didn’t agree on were the way laundry should be done, the way we cut or wash certain foods, cleanliness etc. Another common one we’ve heard about was the different ways people squeeze toothpaste. Thankfully, we’re both middle-squeezers.
I later realized there’s no wrong way of doing these little things. It’s just the way we’re used to from how our parents taught us, so the frustration quickly dissipated after that epiphany.
Something we’ve emphasized at the beginning of our relationship was honest and open communication. That has drastically transformed the way we love, listen, and relate to each other.
In September 2020, we started our family and are parents to two beautiful children.
