Jose and I met back in middle school in 6th grade where we shared the same homeroom teacher. We shared many classes throughout our time in middle and high school. According to Jose, he had a crush on me since 6th grade but wont admit to it now. It wasnt until the summer before our senior year where Jose reached out and asked me if he could take me out bowling in Shrewsbury. Long story short my mother made me go. We both had a good time and when he dropped me off at home he told me that we should hangout again.


I dont completely remember but according to Jose I basically ghosted him for the remainder of the summer. I ended up needing knee surgery at the beginning of the school year and used a wheelchair during the day at school. Jose was still so kind to me despite me not staying in touch. He would ask if he could push me or help carry my backpack to class and would ask me out to breakfast on school days that we could go in late. He was very persistent and seems like I was playing hard to get.


I started a new job that school year working at Friendlys and Jose was working at the movie theatre in Marlborough. It was a brand new location that was opening up therefore a lot of people from my grade got a job there including Jose. Coincidence? I think not.


For soccer we had to do certain themes for each game, including wearing a Marlborough football jersey to school. I asked Jose if I could wear his. Of course he said yes and left it in my mailbox for me and I wore it to school and then again to the football game that week and every game after that. At then end of the season soccer broke up into teams and did a scavenger hunt with seniors being the lead of their team. Each senior had a specific task they had to complete in order to get more points for their team. At this point everyone in our grade knew Jose liked me and I was definitely in denial about having a crush on him. Thanks to the scavenger hunt that night Jose and I ended up having our first kiss in a McDonalds parking lot in his car.


After that we started hanging out every Friday night. One night he showed up to my house with flowers and we went to see the Christmas lights together. He finally asked me to officially be his girlfriend in December of 2017. We went to senior prom together, both graduated from Marlborough High school in June of 2022, and spent the summer getting to know each other better.

Who would have thought Jose would have followed me to college. We both started school in September of 2018 at UMass Lowell. Being away from home was hard to the both of us as it was a big adjustment at first but had each other to get through it. Throughout our time at school we joined intramural teams, went to school events, ordered out a lot of takeout, and hung out with friends.

We spent the next 4 summers camping, fishing, running a couple 5Ks, beach days, spent birthdays and holidays together, and took trips to NYC, Mexico, and the Cape.

We both graduated in May of 2022 Magna Cum Laude. I graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing and Jose graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Clinical Laboratory with intentions to continue his education and attend Medial School in the near future. Jose and I moved back to our parent's houses after college.

I passed my NCLEX and got my Nursing License in July of 2022 and started working at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in August. Jose spent that summer after college working as well as studying for the MCAT for Medical School.

Jose and I decided to move in together and moved to Waltham, MA at the end of October 2022. I was working nights at the time and Jose was still working and studying. He took his exam the end of January and did great. Then we started looking into the next steps to applying to Medical schools. Our relationship grew stronger as we were learning how to live on our own and by supporting each other as we were navigating through this next step of our journey.

It was fun to decorate our apartment and make it our own and explore a new city together. We spent a lot of time cooking and eating meals together. We were working opposite schedules but still managed to put each other first. Jose always made sure I had a meal on the table before heading to work or coming home early in the am. At the time we did not have a lot of money to go or eat out so we had board game nights, movie nights, played a lot of pickleball together, learning how to play golf, went on long walks, and found joy in each other's company.

We loved our year in Waltham but we decided to move back into my parent's house at the end of October 2023 to save money and figure out a plan on where life would take us next. Some how I convinced Jose to drive to New Hampshire with me to go play with puppies. Jose was never really was an animal person but would go with me anyways. You could ask anyone that knows me about how much I love dogs and how I could not wait for the day I could be a dog mom. On October 14th we went to a puppy store in NH and only played with one puppy and I knew he had to be mine.

October 16th we drove back to New Hampshire and picked up our puppy. I still couldn't believe Jose actually agreed to buying a puppy. On our way home that same day Jose got an email from UMass Medical offering him acceptance to Medical school August 2024. We were both in shock! Maverick is our Medical school puppy. Neither of us have raised a puppy before and it was not easy. With the help of both our parents we got through the puppy stage.

Jose and I had a trip booked a trip to Cancun in January months in advance. We flew out of Boston on January 2nd. For the first couple of days we ate a lot of tacos, hung by the pool, went to the shows, and got massages. We had to book excursions and set up dinner reservations a couple days in advance.

I really wanted to try this Italian restaurant so Jose went and set up a reservation for January 4th. We spent most of our day at the pool. Then we headed back to our hotel room to get ready for dinner. When we came back Jose was upset that our room had not been cleaned and was on the phone with the front desk. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Jose helped me pick out my dress since it was a nicer restaurant and ironed it for me as I was doing my hair and makeup. Jose ended up burning through his shirt he picked out for that night while he was ironing it. He was pacing back and fourth in the room for a while as I was still getting ready and then ended up falling asleep on the bed.

We left our hotel room and walked down along the beach towards the restaurant. He stopped me and said that we were having dinner here - a small private pavilion overlooking looking the water. The stairs and floor were lined with rose petals. At that point I had a feeling he was going to propose but didn't see a ring or anything in his pocket. After we ate dinner, Jose ran to the bathroom and gave his phone to our waiter. He sat back down, held my hand, and said "This was not just date night." After so many words Jose got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Obviously I said yes! We facetimed both of our families and then headed back to the room. He had rose petals set up around the room along with chocolate. Everything about that night was perfect.

The next day we went to XCaret. We floated down the underground river, snorkeled with fish and turtles, and watched the show. The other excursion we went on was ziplining, driving ATVs, and swimming in the cenote. The weather was beautiful for the whole week and of course we came home to a snow storm. Maverick was so happy to see us!

Jose, Maverick, and I are currently living in shrewsbury. I am still working at the Brigham and Jose is in school at UMass.


We are both looking forward to getting married in April 2025 and excited to celebrate with our loved ones!