It all started with a swipe.

After moving to Maui in October 2018, I spent all of my time working in service dog training, and exploring the island by myself and trying to meet new people. That November, I swiped right on Tinder on some guy named Dylan and his photo was him doing a hair flip in the water. It ended up being a match and we instantly starting talking. On November 11 (11/11), he invited me to join him on a trip to Big Beach, and we met for the first time outside of Sugar Beach Bake Shop in North Kihei. We ended up cruising to Big Beach and spent the whole afternoon together. I had never really swam in the ocean before and I was very scared, but did not hesitate when Dylan wanted to go in the water. I told myself to play it cool and not let him know I was scared, and the second we were in the ocean, all the fear melted away and we had a great time. The whole time, the conversation was so easy. We shared stories of our travels to Southeast Asia, I realized how brilliant he was as we were discussing his career and interests, and I instantly knew we would be friends and would continue spending time together, but just as friends.

However, the more time we spent together, the more I began to realize that someone special had walked into my life. It wasn’t until we spent an entire day together that January, from sunrise to after sunset, that I realized that we were meant to be more than just friends. The conversation never stopped. We went on a hike, headed to the beach, and we even went grocery shopping, but the whole time we laughed and enjoyed one another’s company. I was falling for him (which was ironic because I also fell in the mud on our hike that day which resulted in ruined pants and lost sunglasses but we laughed through it all).

Our time together was filled with trivia nights, beach days, sunsets, hiking, trying restaurants, and spending time with friends. He helped to push me outside of my comfort zone and try new things, like running a 5k, trying new foods, hiking and later backpacking, and enjoying life on the island together.

He left that summer for a trip to Germany and before he left I told him that I loved him. During the whole time he was off island, I couldn’t stop thinking about him, looking forward to seeing him again, and hoping he was feeling that same way about me. He came back home and sure enough, although it took him a while, he later admitted to feeling the same way. September 21, 2019, was a turning point for us as we made the commitment to being in a serious relationship and navigating it all together.

There was a lot that that we ended up navigating as the next years came: We survived a pandemic together, which encouraged us to move in together. I went through career changes as I figured out exactly what I wanted to do and Dylan was my biggest supporter the whole time. He encouraged a move to New York so we could be near family as I went through grad school to become a teacher. It became more and more clear to me every day that Dylan was my person and we were in this for the long haul. The best part was that time in New York, meant time with Trooper. I couldn’t be happier to see how much Dylan and Trooper love one another, and it honestly felt like our little family was complete.

After I graduated, we took a trip back to Maui in May 2023. I had a feeling this trip would end up being very special for us and our future since we always valued sentimentality, and Maui is where our whole story began and thrived.

The night we landed, we headed to Big Beach, back where we had our special day together 5 years before. As the sun was setting, "First True Love" by Kolohe Kai was playing on Dylan's speaker, and then "Invisible String" by the one and only TS came on It instantly made me cry, and then Dylan made me cry more, as he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I can’t tell you exactly what he said in his speech because I was crying and probably blacked out a little bit, but he quoted Taylor Swift and that really says it all for me. It was the easiest yes in the world.

Dylan has been the most supportive, loving, caring, authentic partner I have ever met, or could have ever imagined. I am so excited to be marrying Dylan, and I look forward to sharing the day with our loved ones on such a meaningful date to us: September 21!

Photos