Two countries, a few international moves, multiple boarding passes, endless video calls, amazing travels together, laughs and, above all, a lot of commitment and love. That is how Marta and Reginald’s love story looks like!

But let’s take a step back and dive into it little by little.

Everything started back in August 2014 in Gainesville, FL thanks to mutual friends. At that time Marta was a visiting PhD student at the University of Florida who was missing home and family very much. To cheer Marta up, her dear friends Claribel and Melissa introduced her to the fun and party life of Gainesville. Little did they know that one of those nights out would have led Marta to meet the love of her life! It was Reginald’s birthday party where they first met, started talking and felt an immediate connection. Was it love at first sight? Probably yes. But back then they were both still young and free, and settling down was not their top priority. Time went by fast and sadly Marta had to move back home to Italy in April 2015 to finish her PhD.

They say out of sight, out of mind. Well, that didn’t really work for Marta and Reginald. Missing each other very much, they kept in touch the whole time they were apart. It was a whole year before they were given the chance to pick up from where they left off: in May 2016 Marta finally moved back to Gainesville to start a post-Doc at UF. Just the time to land and they were back together. Now, you might want to hold your breath a little longer before thinking this was already their happily ever after. Mixing a passionate Italian woman and an eternal Peter Pan turned out to be the recipe for quite an interesting journey. But they put in the work, succeeded in keeping the sparkle alive and never stopped caring for each other. Who fell in love first then? The Italian lady of course. And the American boy? Well, it took some time for his heart and his mind to align. Still considering himself too young to settle down, he fought his feelings for quite a while. However, at the same time “Always and Forever” quickly became his motto when expressing his love to Marta.

And then 2020 and COVID-19 happened. Being far away during such a difficult time was not easy and Marta decided to move back home to stay with her family. So, after being together for more than four years now they were going to be apart once again. Travelling back then was not easy and it was only after eight months that they met again in Italy. And then it became crystal clear they wanted to be in each other’s lives forever. Although life threw them some more curveballs and made them face quite a few challenges, they overcame all of them together and came out stronger than ever. Yes, together they have been through thick and thin. But that is the key to their love story: always together!

Now the official proposal. The one including going down on one knee and popping the question while presenting a shining ring. It was the perfect proposal that was worth all the wait. And like that, nine years after their first encounter, on August 24th, 2023 Marta and Reginald were officially engaged and ready to say “I do”!

This has been their Always so far and now their Forever is about to start!