There once was a lonely girl named Danielle pictured above, who swore she wasn't going to date any boys before starting college and a second year college student named Joseph. One day, Joseph was scrolling through his phone and noticed a story posted on Instagram from a recent follower. Joe decided to respond to that story with a singular emoji that would start something neither of them expected...

Danielle and Joseph spent the summer of 2017 talking on and off trying to figure out if they could make long distance work since Danielle was in school on Staten island and Joe was upstate in binghamton, but by December 2017 they were "officially" a couple. Above is one of the first selfies Danielle ever forced joe to take... Aren't they cute?

They stayed together as Danielle graduated high-school and Joe even took her to prom letting her be the cool girl that brought an "older" guy to the school dance. The only issue was Joe was in school in upstate NY and Danielle decided on a school that had 4 hours travel time between them. They had to decide if it was worth it...

DUH of course it was. The couple took turns visiting each other throughout 2018 and 2019 ( although their parents were not happy about it). The couples spent hours and I MEAN HOURS on facetime doing homework together, gossiping and even sleeping on the phone. They saw each other once ever 2-3 months but as cliché as it is, distance really did make their hearts grow fonder.

As 2020 came and Joe was about to finally graduate college and be closer to Danielle who was in school in Long Island we got hit with the pandemic. The couple got to be "closer" since everyone was locked down into their homes. Danielle, a nursing student, still managed to get COVID 5-6 times in a 2 year span, however, the couple still obeyed the 6 inch apart rule... I mean the 6 foot rule of course and took advantage of being 15 minutes apart at home vs 4 hours as it had been for years before.

Before the couple knew it, Joe had graduated college in 2020 from his couch and in 2022 Danielle graduated school with Joe right beside her. Joe was about to start school again for school psychology and Danielle was all set to start practicing as a nurse. At this point Danielle was like hello? It's been almost 5 years are you going to marry me anytime soon? Joe did warn her that he wanted to finish school first. This didn't stop Danielle from sending 3 pictures of engagement rings to joe per day, but the couple had gotten this far so she knew when the time was right he would finally ask.

As joe continued school and Danielle tried to figure out why she decided to become a nurse in the first place, Danielle made joe dress up in silly costumes and they continued to love each other as they always had before. Joe listened to Danielle cry after she watched a patient, now known as Spiderman, jump off a hospital roof IN front of her ( he lived), and Danielle listened to Joe's not so cool stories about psych experiments and graphs.

As summer of 2024 was about to begin, Danielle and Joe had been living together since that April and Danielle found out she had to get surgery in June. She was then stuck next to Joe for 1 month watching boy shows as he had just graduated grad school FINALLY and was now bumming it out with her until summer work began. Danielle sat and wondered everyday when Joe was finally going to say he loved her.... I mean propose to her. In Joes defense he did help her put socks on everyday and make her rice and soup so I guess, you could say he got a pass as to why she was not a fiancée yet.

Fast forward to July... Danielle got a whiff in the air that Joe was acting weird. At this point, Danielle was still not able to bend down to touch her toes BUT she was gaslight for 1 week straight by everyone she knows and loves that Joe was not proposing to her. Joe wanted Danielle to take him shopping for a date that he had planned that July weekend of the 6th. Joe???? SHOPPING? red flag. After detective Dan was thrown off the trail by her closest friends because Joe was really bad at not being obvious something was up, she got ready on July 6 for what she didn't know would be the happiest day of her life.

IM A FIANCEE IM A FIANCEE... I mean, and then Danielle became a fiancée. Joe also became a fiancée BUT Danielle got her sparkly oval gold band dream ring. She spent the day in shock and took lots of sweaty pictures with her friends and family that had surprise mobbed her where Joe had just proposed. Danielle and Joe were not only in love for 6 years but they were officially going to get married. FINALLY. ( Jeeze, even this abbreviated version of 6 years is a long read.)

The couple ( Danielle with a pinch of Joes input) is now planning their wedding and is set to get married on October 25, 2025. Although the couple has basically been married for the last few years, Danielle and Joe can not wait to finally be able to obnoxiously say husband and wife in every other sentence. To all of my dearest readers, the couple can not wait to celebrate their special day with you all and are grateful to know each one of you.

- Sincerely

D.