It all started at Liberty High School in September 2011. Marisa was a junior, just shy of turning 17, and Esteban was in his senior year, about to be 18 in a matter of days. Those who know Esteban know that he can make some pretty funny voices and sounds. All it took was one “Marisa” from a distance in a silly voice, to make her head turn and find a young boy with the biggest grin on his face. They started dating soon after that, and it was only appropriate for the first date to be the homecoming football game and then the homecoming dance. Whether it was the faux- hawk ,or the earrings that attracted her, she would tell you it was all of the above - “it was the style then.” And for him, it was that she was a Latina girl who could hopefully cook and care for him like his mom and his sister. What was for certain, it was a high school sweetheart love story in the making.

When Marisa moved to Boston just six months into the relationship, they both knew it was too soon to call it quits, and they made the distance work with the support of their families. Esteban flew to visit her in Boston and the two took their first day trip to New York City together. Marisa, being a lover of and obsessed with New York City, could not wait to show him around. It was one of their first and best adventures thus far.

The two continued to date through Marisa’s high school graduation. However, when Marisa decided to go to Grand Junction for college, Esteban decided he had to let her go. Both families can recall the heartbreak of this decision to split, but somehow Esteban knew this would not be the end, and he left this message on his Facebook: “Just let the woman of my dreams go for personal reasons. This is just temporary so we can focus on bigger things for now. I love you Marisa.”

Sure enough, he was right. It was just temporary. The two kept in touch for the four years Marisa was in college, going on dates when she would be back in Colorado Springs for breaks from school. When she graduated and moved to Denver in June of 2017, it took Esteban just until July of 2018 to move to Denver and pickup where they had left off.

After two years of dating once again in the same city, the two moved in together and boy did they learn some things. For example, Marisa learned that Esteban is better at unloading the dishes than he is at loading them. Marisa learned that any night it was Esteban’s turn to cook, they would be eating Chipotle, which has turned out to be about once a week. They were there for each other for the good times like holidays and birthdays, and the bad times of losing grandparents far too soon.

It was Marisa’s birthday in November of 2022 that Esteban gifted her with a trip to her favorite city, New York City, and what she would later find out was the greatest trip of her life.

On the morning of March 17th, 2023, in New York City, the couple woke up and Marisa was not feeling ready to explore. They had gotten tickets to Summit One Vanderbilt, an observatory to see the whole city and Marisa was not feeling it. All morning she had complained, “I don’t like the clothes I packed, what if it’s too high for my anxiety, we didn’t get to eat breakfast.” Esteban being the patient man that he is, took it all and continued to push forward with the plans. Finally, when they arrived at the observatory area, he told Marisa they were going to take a picture. She asked him who was going to take it, and he pointed to a crowd that happened to be their families, waiting with their phones ready and tears in their eyes, as he began to grab her hand and ask the big question.

To this day Marisa can’t remember all that he said. But she knows she said yes. A yes that has been 12 years in the making. Sometimes she will ask him to propose again before bed, just so she can hear the words again, and he does, each time she asks.

Today the two live happily in their one-bedroom apartment in Denver. In between wedding planning, they are attending puppy training classes with their first baby, a mini Bernedoodle named Remi. If you ask Esteban, Remi was a “sudden purchase,” but he could not tell Marisa no. Remi happened to arrive in their lives just twos days after getting back from the NYC proposal trip, so “sudden” was correct. Although she keeps life interesting, she is the new love of their lives. #RiveraPartyOf3 🤍