Chapter: Greetings

High school meetings between theatre people grew into more. These two met whilst Trisha was in her senior year and Juan was an incoming freshman at Rancho Verde High School back in 2015. (Now that we all know Trisha is older) Juan was the sound tech for the department while Trisha was on stage. Juan fondly watched Trisha as she performed her shows and found a way into her sights. He found out how she loved Starbucks and strawberry pop-tarts. THAT was how they first connected. During the production of Romeo and Juliet, Juan casually walked passed Trisha with a box of pop-tarts and offered her one. She was so excited to take one! And that is one of Trisha's earliest memories of their budding connection. That moment is when Trisha started to get that indescribable feeling and little did she know, it would grow into more.

In the coming months, Trisha began working on lighting design more in the theatre while Juan was the sound engineer. This meant they were in the booth together a whole lot. Their connections grew more and more and Trisha still reached out to Juan even after he switched schools for a short time. He still came to help her at Rancho Verde High School for dance shows and theatre shows. Their last show together at Rancho was where their relationship grew the most as they both struggled through the technical endeavors of the show. They laughed and played a whole lot with each other, but it wasn't long after that they lost touch.

Chapter: Missed interaction

Juan graduated high school and Trisha continued college. They had one encounter in the parking garage at the community college. Both were looking for parking (of which Trisha NEVER parked in there, but that day decided to try the parking structure), and they did double takes to each other, a quick message to say "Hey, I just saw you!" and that was the end. Time went on and they lost complete touch, no more social media connections, and no more sightings.

Chapter: Reconnection

Fast forward three years to 2022, Trisha was at work on break on Instagram and a familiar name popped up on her suggested followers, Juan. "JUAN?!" She messaged him, remembering all the fun they had and realizing she missed him. Juan was surprised to see this familiar name pop up in his messages. He couldn't believe his eyes. He took his chance and decided to message back, remembering how he always felt too. They had a quick conversation which included Juan's gauging question, "So anyone special for Trisha?" to see what his chances were. Trisha happily responded, "Nope, no one for Trisha." That's when Juan knew he was going to make this happen this time.

They messaged for a few weeks and tried to organize a meeting, but it didn't work out until one day after work, Trisha got home late and they decided to go to In-N-Out. They ran to In-N-Out, not really knowing what to expect since they hadn't seen each other in so long. They arrived and parked next to each other. They found a table and got their food. This is the first time Juan recalls not immediately touching his food (Juan likes his hot food). Neither of them touched their food the whole time they were there because they were caught up in conversation. Juan fondly recalls how Trisha's laugh filled the whole restaurant and he couldn't help but smile. They organized an impromptu Disneyland trip and eventually got kicked out because they were there too late. It was 1:30 or so in the morning and they went to Juan's Z3 to talk some more. Now, there's a thing that happens when you drink liquids so they decided to walk to the nearby gas station because it was across the parking lot, why use gas? Coming back to the cars, Juan noticed that he didn't hear the jingle of his keys coming back...took a quick glance in the car, and there they are. Juan had successfully locked his keys in the car. They scrambled trying to think of what to do, they waited hours for lock and key service, but Juan finally took it into his own hands. He grabbed Trisha's pocket knife from her car and cut into the soft top of his Z3 to unlock the door. By now, it was probably around 5 am, and they finally were able to go home and sleep. They laughed it all off, but Juan thought for sure this was the end because of that move. She stuck around though because she thought he was cute and loved how he held himself. They kept talking more, went to concerts, went to dinner, did runs through the backroads (where Juan first introduced Trisha to shifting gears), and they had the time of their life. They loved each other's company.

Chapter: A Step Towards Forever

Trisha had tickets to see Back to the Future at the Hollywood Bowl in August so they grabbed their food and took the drive. The movie with a live orchestra was amazing! They detoured to Downtown Disney for some Disney magic and then headed home. They took their favorite route through the backroads where they stop at Lake Matthews to see the moon shine on the lake. Juan took her to this spot and they both glanced at the water. He proceeded to tell her how happy he is now that they found each other again. His heart was racing and he got on one knee with a handmade box made from a seashell. He opened it and there stood a ring. He asked the question and she very happily said the obvious answer, "YES!" He slipped the ring on her finger and they enjoyed a long embrace where they recounted how much they loved each other.

Both grew the years apart, they had life experiences that made them who they are and it made them an even better match for each other. They are each other's overwhelming support, and they can't wait to grow in life together.

T&J