It's hard to imagine how the trajectory of our lives can change forever on a regular night out with the guys. In my case, September 3rd, 2021 will always be an important date to me. I was invited to a night out in Alameda, CA, a place I rarely find myself, with some friends that evening. We stopped by a chill brewery or two before ending the night a bar known as "Lucky 13."

The bar was full of weird vibes and strange characters mostly. However, there was one person across the room in particular that caught my attention. There was a beautiful girl and her 2 friends, who I figured were coworkers for some reason, sitting there at a table seemingly bored out of their minds. A friend of mine Kyle, who I met earlier that evening, must have somehow noticed that my attention was directed towards that table. He asked if I wanted to go talk to them, so I told him I was down.

When we approached, Kyle did most of the talking and left little opportunity for me to jump in. I learned that they are Peruvian and were staying in San Francisco. But my attention was on the beautiful girl that I mentioned earlier, who was now sitting quietly as her friend was engaging in conversation with us. I began to talk to make basic conversation with her and learned her name was Ana before I was physically pulled away from the conversation by a girl that I met earlier from the friend group I was with. Confused and somewhat frustrated, I asked her "What's up, everything okay?" I don't remember her response, but I said, "Okay, I'm going back to my conversation with her (Ana.)"

I noticed Kyle had walked away, but that wouldn't deter me from talking to her again. I started to talk to her about hiking, or whatever silly conversation I could make in that moment before making my move. I finally told her that the reason I was at their table was because I thought she was very beautiful and I'd like to hangout sometime while she is in San Francisco. Fortunately, she was down so I asked for her number.

She asked her friend Valeria to give me her number (which I thought was possibly fake for that reason.) I realized later that it was real, but it was her "US number" because of a temporary phone chip.

I texted her "Hey, It's Brian" and as they say, the rest is history. I met the woman of my dreams and have been blessed the last couple of years to enjoy beautiful places together that go beyond my wildest expectations. I never imagined being in a long distance relationship extending across continents, but I'm extremely thankful and excited to have Ana as my wife.

Registry