Her Side:

I had never met him before but I always saw pictures of Jason on my brother’s instagram and I thought he was cute. Since he was my brother’s friend I assumed he was the same age as him (6 years older than me), so I waved it off as a stupid little dream crush that would never happen.

It’s Sunday at the convention in 2019 and we’re finishing up the final cleaning. “So you’re not gonna clean?” Excuse me?! I turn around and it’s him- my dream crush! I told him I had finished cleaning and was waiting for my parents. He said he was waiting for my brother. “I bet I know your brother better than you” Excuse me?! Well, after a quick quiz and lots of laughing, Jason lost because he didn’t know my brother was 21” when he was born. (Random trivia remains one of our favorite things to do together.)

From our very first conversation, I felt a peace and comfort that's rare for someone as reserved as me—it was an instant click. Over the years, he has worn many titles in my life: dream crush, friend, boyfriend, fiancé, and soon, husband. But before anything else, and forever after, he is my best friend.

No challenge has ever shaken his spirit, he always leans on Jehovah with faith and strength. His kindness, trustworthiness, sensitivity, humility, and intelligence continually remind me that he is everything I ever hoped for in a spiritual head. Each day, I find myself falling more deeply in love with him.

My heart is full knowing the day is almost here when I can finally call him my husband—not just for a lifetime, but for eternity.

I love you Jay.

Oh and he’s only a year older than me ;)

His Side:

In this system it’s easy to feel like you’re lost or that you’re not cared for. But Anabella makes that feeling go away and it's funny because I can’t even pinpoint the first time I heard about her. I was best friends with her brother and for the first year and a half of our friendship I never knew he had a sister. And even when I did know about her existence it’s not like I was eager to find out about her.

The first time I saw her was at an assembly. She was stunning to say the least. I remember the moment being with my friend Zach at the Jersey City Assembly Hall and I randomly asked him “Who is that”(pointing to a girl walking around with her friends) and he told me very bluntly that she was quote unquote Hector’s sister… I was taken back but slightly intrigued. Regardless, I did not try to talk to her. I respected the Bro Code too much to do that (ironic I know).

The next time I saw her was at JCPenney. I used to work there and gave all my friends and family discounts (Sometimes beyond what I should’ve). I vividly remember the day she walked in. She was with Tracy, my future mother in law, who I had met before. Thankfully Tracy recognized me but at the time I was just “Pop’s Friend.”(Pops meaning Hector) She came over to my register with Anabella and I was excited to make a first impression on the girl I had a crush on. As I spoke to Tracy I would look over to Anabella and she was glued to her phone.(Not ideal) I tried to impress them with 75% discounts but it wasn’t good enough and before I knew it she was walking away. (Horror start) Pipe dream to say the least. Still, I was happy I could give Anabella a discounted speaker even if to her I was only a voice that rambled in the background like in peanuts. She was beautiful but I could never think about having a crush on my best friend’s sister.(Right?)

Then in August 2019 I had a pretty monumental moment at the convention…I spoke to her. For the first time. Earlier in the weekend she was texting me through her brother’s phone(he really only has himself to blame) to help her brother locate where I was sitting. This was still when we went to the Cure Arena for our conventions so the seating was huge and finding your friends was a must. On Sunday though, it all changed.

After the program ended people began to clean their designated areas. I tried to find Hector because I think we had plans to go out to eat…I could be making that up…I may have went over just to catch a glance at Anabella. Upon arriving at the North Long Branch cleaning area I saw a sister just standing around not helping and watching everyone clean. It was Anabella.(Of course) It was the final day of the convention so I figured- why not? As I approached her I had no opening line, no funny remark, not even a good excuse to talk to her but I went for it and said “So you’re not gonna clean?”(smooth right? Right?????) I thought I ruined it because she responded with an excuse about how she “already cleaned” which I still don’t believe to this day. But what followed was my first conversation with my future wife.

Sometimes there are moments in life when you feel like you’re exactly where you need to be and in that moment regardless of what we were talking about or how short or long the convo was, it was that moment where I finally felt like I was where I needed to be. She made me feel comfortable without trying. She wasn’t trying to be cool or funny or anything she was just being herself and I loved who she was. She was just… perfect. To this day I know there’s no possible way I could’ve known that she was gonna be the girl of my dreams or the person who makes me feel like I’m flying. But I knew that I was feeling something different when I saw her smile, when I spoke to her, and when she laughed with me. Anabella has this innate ability to make anyone feel seen. When she gives you her full attention everything else seems to go quiet. And at that moment as I talked to my best friend’s sister, I was home.

I love you Anabelly.🩵

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