From the moment I first saw ALICIA in that Facebook group, she CAPTIVATED me. She wasn’t just another face in the crowd—she had an ENERGY, a PRESENCE, something that made me stop and pay attention. When she posted about the basketball meetup, asking what people would be wearing, and then shared a picture of herself proudly rocking a Pat Ewing jersey, I felt an INSTANT CONNECTION. That one post set everything in motion—PLAYFUL EXCHANGES, LAUGHTER in the comments, INSIDE JOKES that started forming. I couldn’t help but tease her with a picture of Maino and Tim from Love Is Blind, just to keep the fun going.

When I sent her a friend request, I realized we shared mutual friends, but more than that, I realized she was unlike anyone I had ever met. There was no hesitation, no holding back—just AUTHENTICITY, CONFIDENCE, and WARMTH. She showed up as her TRUE SELF, and that alone PULLED ME IN. Over the next few weeks, our conversations DEEPENED, our interactions became EFFORTLESS, and something UNDENIABLE started to form between us. I couldn’t wait any longer—I sent her a DM and asked her out.

On NOVEMBER 17, 2024, EVERYTHING CHANGED. OUR FIRST DATE. The beginning of something I knew would be EXTRAORDINARY. That night, as we laughed, shared stories, and lost track of time, I felt something I had never felt before—A LOVE THAT WAS MEANT TO BE. From that day forward, we were INSEPARABLE.

As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, I knew deep in my soul that ALICIA was THE ONE.

Have you ever met someone who instantly feels like HOME? Someone whose presence wraps around you like a WARM EMBRACE, whose LAUGHTER becomes the MELODY you never knew your life was missing? That’s ALICIA. She’s the SAFEST PLACE, the BRIGHTEST LIGHT, the kind of person whose very existence makes the world feel more BEAUTIFUL. And beyond her KINDNESS, beyond her WARMTH, she is STUNNING—inside and out. We shared our PASTS, our DREAMS, the DEEPEST parts of ourselves, and in doing so, we didn’t just create MEMORIES. We CREATED OUR STORY—a story rooted in the MAGIC and POWER of BLACK LOVE.

BLACK LOVE is RESILIENCE. It is JOY. It is the kind of LOVE that carries generations of STRENGTH, of DEVOTION, of CONNECTION that runs deeper than words. With ALICIA, I felt the BEAUTY of BLACK LOVE in its purest form—LOVE that uplifts, that PROTECTS, that CELEBRATES every part of who we are.

And on DECEMBER 28, 2024, I asked her to WRITE THE REST OF IT WITH ME FOREVER. I PROPOSED, knowing, without a doubt, that this is the LOVE I had been waiting for. The moment she said "YES," my heart knew that the most BEAUTIFUL CHAPTERS of our story were just beginning.