Photo: Circa 2000 - something

What’s our love story?

According to Devon: “We met in college; the rest is history.” That’s Devon for you, he’s direct and succinct (one of his best qualities). Well, there you have it. That’s where it begins and ends. Thanks for joining our Ted Talk.

All jokes aside, we've known each other for a very long time.

It all started Freshman Year, Fall 2002 at the University of Arizona (Bear Down!) in African American Literature. The instructor at the time, Dr. Howard, was calling out names for attendance or something of that nature, and he called, “Patterson”. We both raised our hands.

The shock that I had to meet another person with my last name because I never met anyone with that last name. My first thought was, “Are we related?” (No, we aren’t). We looked at each other, and kind of laughed.

Then randomly, I happened to be checking my mail and Devon was randomly there. I learned he was there to meet with his friends. Not only that, but they also lived next door to me. And that is when we started to hang out as friends. Nothing romantic because I did friend zone him for a good year until I realized that he liked me.

We did end up dating until after we graduated, but sometimes things come to an end. However, we did stay friends, and we did check in with one another over the years to see how each other were doing.

Photo: San Diego

Fast forward to 2021, I receive a text from Devon asking if I wanted to grab lunch. I agreed and we ended up having lunch and catching up on A LOT of things that happened with our lives the years prior. During our conversations, we found ourselves, both single, and I learned that Devon had a son (he is the cutest).

We ended up chatting more, and from there we saw each other all the time, and eventually dating and a relationship formed.

Photo: Big Island, HI - After the proposal. I was still in disbelief.

August 27, 2023, we took a trip to Big Island, Hawaii. It was our first day there, and we had dinner reservations. Our table was by the water, and a beautiful sunset was taking place. We had drinks and appetizers, and we were just chatting. Devon then tells me he loves me, and he enjoys our relationship. Then he says, “let’s take this to the next level”. Then he places this black box on the table. I was stunned and slightly confused and had no words. I opened the box, and it was my beautiful ring.

I said, “Are you serious?!” and he said, “Yes”. And I said, well yes, of course. I was silent for about a good 10 minutes because I was in awe and shock.

We’re so excited for this next phase of our love journey. He’s still the one. Can’t wait to say, ‘I do”.