The night I met Karina, the world around me blurred into the background. It was February 7, 2021—Super Bowl Sunday—and I had shown up at a party in Altamonte Springs, expecting nothing more than good food, a few drinks, and a decent game. But the moment I saw her, everything changed.

She sat at a table with her friends, laughing and having a great time, completely radiant. I don’t remember who was winning at that moment, but I do remember the way my heart pounded when our eyes met. It was instant—like the universe whispered, There she is.

We spent the rest of the night talking, the game becoming nothing more than background noise. Every little thing about her drew me in—the way she tucked her hair behind her ear when she was deep in thought, the way her eyes sparkled when she talked about things she loved. It felt like we had known each other forever, like we were meant to be standing there in that moment.

That night, as we said goodbye, I knew my life had just changed forever. And now, years later, she’s still the love of my life—my best friend, my partner, my everything. That Super Bowl may have crowned a champion, but I walked away with something far greater.

We met on February 7th, 2021, on Superbowl Sunday. My friends invited me to a house party, and I agreed to go. Three days prior to being invited I cried to God and told him that love clearly wasn’t for me and I received his message lol. We got to the party, and I told myself not to do too much and just stay to myself. A couple of hours after being there with my friends, Mathieu walked into the party with a black mask on (post covid) and braided locs. He passed by me, and I thought to myself that he had cool hair, and it was funny that he was the only one wearing a mask. Maybe 30 minutes later, my friend told me I should make myself a “real” drink. I turned around in my chair to look into the kitchen and there Mathieu was making himself a drink. He looked at me as he took a sip of his alcoholic beverage, I looked back then turned back around. I thought to myself he was handsome and was most likely a heartbreaker, so I would leave it at that and not entertain any further thoughts.

About 20 minutes later a friend Carolyn came inside from being on the porch and sat next to me. I asked her if it was cold outside and she said, “No it feels nice, but girl, they’re all talking about you.” I looked at her confused and said, “Talking about who?” she replied, “You.” I then turned my head to where the outside patio was and I see Mathieu, his brother, his friend Rudy, and his other friend Bryan staring at me. Mathieu stared at me with a smoldering glare like he was confused or curious. I got scared and turned back to Carolyn. Heide started smiling and said “Girlll, I told you.” I asked her what they were saying, and she said they were saying things like “I was cute and wondered who I was”. I asked her how old they were, and she said around 30-35 years old. I thought, DAMN. They are way too old. Then I asked her about Mathieu, “What about the one in the gray shirt with the locs?” and she replied, “I don’t know how old he is, one second.” She then proceeded to get up and march outside. She told Mathieu “Out of all the guys out here, she wants to talk to you.” 2 minutes later, Mathieu came outside and stood right next to me smiling. I was nervous to talk to him, so I pretended I didn’t see him and pretended to care about the Superbowl. 30 seconds went by, and I turned back to him and

said hello. He introduced himself and shook my hand, which I took note of as being very polite and rare. The tv was loud and we all know he speaks low as hell so when he told me his name I thought he said “Miguel” so for the 30 minutes we talked, and I thought his name was Miguel lol. I told him I had to use the restroom, and he replied that he did too. When we both got back he asked for my number, and I gave it to him. He put his number in my phone and I finally realized his name was not Miguel. We talked for the rest of the night, and I just remember the feeling of calmness washing over me. I felt like I didn’t have to perform, I could be myself. His brother told him they had to go because they were going to the club, so he talked to me for 5 more minutes before getting up to leave. We hugged and he said he would text me. An hour later, he texts me saying that it was a pleasure speaking with me! I was going to leave him on read because I told myself this wasn’t going to become anything, but he sent another message, so I decided to text him back and the rest is HISTORYYYYY!!!

I knew I was in love with Mathieu 3 weeks after we met. I knew he was my forever 3 months after we started dating. I was at a pawn shop with my dad, and we were looking at the wedding rings. My dad pointed out some pretty ones to me. He looked at me and began to ask, “If Mathieu asked you—-” “Yes.” I interrupted, because I already knew what he was going to ask me, and I already knew my answer was yes. I knew if Mathieu asked me to marry him in the 3 months that I knew him, I would’ve said yes because he was and is the ONE!