**Our Badges & Bouquets Entry Love Story**

Finally Flores

We all have that yearning to find love, but sometimes the sparks ignite with someone

when you least expect it. Tinder states, “with more than fifty five billion matches to date, we’re

no stranger to bringing singles together online” but never did either of us think we would

become part of that statistic. On March 18, 2015 with a simple swipe right our love story would

begin without us even knowing. The messages between us started flowing naturally, bringing

smiles to both of our faces and left us constantly wanting to check our message notifications

throughout the day. Neither of us thought it was possible to feel like we were falling for someone

simply through messages, but the chemistry with one another made us eager to meet up in

person. On March 20th we had our first date at the Stetson Bar where we showed up nervous,

scared, and curious. Thankfully the person on the other side of the messages was real and it

made the rest of the night come more with ease. We talked and danced the night away and

spent the rest of our time acting as if we had known each other for years. The conversation and

laughter between us seemed to come naturally which left us wanting to see the other person

again sooner than we had anticipated. We decided to follow up our first date with meeting up

over the next few days to hang out and get to know each other more. We discussed so many

things in the beginning like the qualities we look for in another person and our current jobs.

Rene was a Captain with District 5 ESD as well as a Volunteer Firefighter for Lytle Fire

Department and I was a Dental Assistant in a Pediatric Dental Office. Being able to connect on

such a serious level from the beginning helped our new relationship flourish and we were both

excited for what was to come.

Little did I know that Rene had recently accepted an offer with the Houston Fire

Department. One night we met up for dinner with Rene’s friends Roger and Vanessa and they

began discussing his plans to move to Houston. I was surprised by the conversation since I had

no idea, but I waited until the end of the night to ask him about it. I was shocked and sad to

learn that he would be moving away since we had just met and I didn’t know what his intentions

were for our new found relationship. After much discussion we decided that we would continue

to try and grow our relationship, even with the challenge of distance between us. Neither of us

knew if we would be able to endure a long-distance relationship but we wanted to give it a

chance. A month and a half after meeting, Rene packed up and moved three hours away to

start training at the Houston Fire Department Academy. Living in different cities was hard but we

still managed to get to know each other by exchanging facetime video calls, phone calls and

road trips back and forth to see each other. To both of our surprises the relationship spread like

wildfire and no one in sight could put out our new flame. A few months into our long-distance

relationship we decided that it was time for Rene to be introduced to my two children, Aidan and

Sophia who were eleven and seven at the time. We took them to Altitude Trampoline Park for

an afternoon of fun. The kids being able to meet Rene was important to both of us since we

ultimately wanted their approval. Dating with kids is not always easy as you have to learn

patience as well as planning around the availability of the parent. Establishing this connection

between Rene and the kids allowed us to include them in our weekend trips and to plan fun

outings for all of us to do together.

A couple of years passed by and during this time we still continued our romance via

frequent facetime calls as well as continuing our weekly trips back and forth to see each other.

We always made the most of the time that we were able to share together. Being in our

relationship for almost two years at this point, we knew that we wanted to become more serious.

In April of 2017 we made the decision to rent a home together in San Antonio. Since Rene was

still working in Houston this required him to commute back and forth frequently. The task of

driving the three hour commute one-way became tiresome and made Rene miss being home

with us. So, in November of 2017 he decided to move back to San Antonio permanently, upon

moving back he joined the Leon Valley Fire Department. His move back home allowed us to

spend more quality time together and the bond between us grew stronger. We were able to

attend family functions and social events with friends more often than we had been able to

before. He was able to see the kids on a daily basis and become more of a father figure in their

lives. When he volunteered at the station in Lytle he often invited the kids and myself over to

visit him. You could tell they were in awe at all of the trucks and equipment. He let them try on

gear and climb up into the trucks. It quickly became one of the places that we loved to hang out

to get extra time together. Those are some of our favorite memories together.

When I met Rene I had been employed as a dental assistant, but I had aspirations of

going back to school to further my career in the dental field. As I watched Rene accomplish his

dream of working for a big city fire department like Houston and completing paramedic school it

inspired me to further my career as well. I decided to go back to school in August of 2017 and

began taking courses that helped me accomplish a huge goal that I never thought was possible.

I graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Dental Hygiene in May of 2021. To obtain my degree

I had to take many medical and pharmacy courses, he was always there to help me better

understand the material. I give some credit to him for helping me accomplish my goal because

his support was unwavering. He always helped me to study and was there for the kids since I

worked during the day and had school at night. He was constantly encouraging me along the

way and never made me feel like I was alone in any situation. I feel like this is one of the

greatest parts of our relationship; the fact that we have both been there encouraging each other

and reminding the other one that any goal you set can be accomplished with hard work and

determination.

While attending school we were fortunate enough to be able to purchase our first home.

It was an exciting, yet stressful experience but we got through it together. We closed on our

home and moved in during December of 2020. Having our own home allowed us to add some

furry children to our lives. We got two dogs, Ash in December of 2020 and Tootsie in July of

2021. Both of us had finally accomplished our career goals and our life felt complete at the time.

As the kids seemed to grow older rather quickly we realized that we wanted to expand our

family just a little more. We welcomed our handsome son Cody Rene into the world on April 6,

2023. At that moment everything really felt complete and all of the hard work that we had done

for our family was worth it.

Having been together for eight years, marriage was something that we often talked

about but I was so surprised on the day of our engagement because I wasn’t expecting it. On

August 6, 2023 Rene told me that we were going out to eat but he wanted to stop at a nice

place first to take pictures. When we arrived I had no idea where we were, but we all got out of

the car and began walking the property. It was beautiful! There was lush green grass and huge

trees everywhere. After walking a bit we happened upon a huge rock grotto with candles and

statues near it. We began taking family photos and then Rene asked me to take a picture by

ourselves. I was oblivious to the fact that as we were taking pictures my daughter was recording

the whole thing. Suddenly Rene got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I am so

thankful that all three of our kids were there to share this beautiful moment with us. What I didn’t

know at the time was the significance of the place he picked to ask me to marry him, it is called

the Lourdes Grotto. After he proposed he told me that this was the place where my

Godmother/Tia, who passed away from cancer in August 2018, often went to find peace and

healing before she passed away. That day and the significance of the place he chose for such

an important day in our lives holds such a special place in both of our hearts and I am thankful

he chose to do it there because I know she was looking down on us.

Like any relationship, we have been through trials and tribulations which both challenged

but allowed our relationship to grow stronger. I believe we have such a strong bond because we

always make time to see each other, even when Rene is on shift. I can always be counted on to

swing by the station to see him when he is gone and he often comes to have lunch with me

while I am away at work too. We have both endured many changes and personal growth but

have managed to continue living our love story together through it all. Early on we were

separated by over two hundred miles and we were still able to get to know each other and

continue growing our relationship for the two and half years we lived in different cities. We have

both experienced the deaths of close family members during our relationship. Through offering

comfort and strength to the other, we have been able to overcome the grief we were going

through. As we both went back to school to pursue our career goals we learned that we needed

to lean on each other more. During the stresses of learning and constant studying we were able

to support each other with frequent encouragement and reminding the other that we were

pursuing our career goals to make a better life for our family together. Throughout our

relationship Rene has inspired me to want to be a better person. I see him work countless hours

and still come home and make time for his family. He can always be counted on to go into work

when needed and spent many years volunteering for the fire department in his hometown of

Lytle. It sounds cheesy but he is definitely the calm to my storm. I tend to get anxious in certain

situations, but he has shown me that in the end everything will work out the way it should. No

matter what challenges our relationship has faced we have remained true to each other and

have always had the mentality that we are a team working together. Even through

disagreements the respect and care for each other has always shown through. We both have

strived to better ourselves to provide a better life and future for our family.

Thank you for allowing us to share our love story with you. We would be grateful and

honored to be selected to have our dream wedding by Badges & Bouquets.