Our Love Story
Her POV:
On the morning of January 29, 2023, I woke up to three missed FaceTime calls from Barbara, one of my lifelong friends. She had left a voice note: "We met this guy at a beach party in Mexico. He’s so handsome, such a nice guy, went to Stanford and now works in finance in New York. We gave him your Instagram so he can reach out to you. We were telling him all about you, and the only thing he asked was, ‘Does she have a good heart?’” Three days later, a DM popped up: "Hi María! This is going to be very random, but I met Barbara and a few of your friends on a beach in Mexico, and I promised them I would take you out to dinner. If you’re around the next few weekends, let me know, I’d love to meet you." And the rest is history.
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The funny thing is, the only reason I agreed to that dinner was to expand my circle of guy friends in New York because I never thought I would date someone from another country. Our first date was such a success that the waitress had to remind us to eat our starters before she could bring out the entrees. A month later, we went on our second date. By our fourth, we were having lunch with my family. I introduced him as a friend, still unsure of what I wanted. Looking back, I can clearly see that my family flew to New York for one reason: to meet this “friend” I couldn’t stop talking about.
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As my feelings deepened, so did my fear of uncertainty. A part of me knew that if we took the leap, we would end up marrying each other. Thankfully, I was surrounded by people who believed in us: Barbara, my roommates, my parents, my siblings, and so many others who gave me the courage to step outside my comfort zone. And because of them, I found the love of my life. Looking back, it’s undeniable that God had been weaving our story together long before we even met. I visited my brother at Stanford while both he and Paxton were studying there. We stayed at the same hotel in Colorado at the same time. My New York apartment? Just blocks from his office, because my roommate happened to work at the same company as he did.
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Today, I can say with so much certainty that Paxton has made every risk worth it. Every single day, he makes me feel so deeply loved, understood, and accepted. To know Paxton is to know what it means to be truly cared for. So, Pax, thank you for your patience, for loving me so gently, for standing beside me through every twist and turn. We can’t wait to take this next step, and it means the world to have you with us on this special day!
His POV:
The story of my relationship with Maria starts with the same feeling I feel today. Looking back, the craziest part of our story wasn’t that her friends pushed me to reach out to her via an Instagram screenshot on a midnight ferry back from a Punta Mita beach (although that is certainly crazy); it was the calm certainty I had in knowing that I just had to take her to dinner! It felt like reading the first page of a book that I knew I had read before, but had no memory of. If only I had that same confidence while we were on our first dates…
After about 30 minutes of writing the Instagram DM and receiving some slight edits from my mom (thanks, mom), I nervously sent my awkward intro to Maria. We set up a dinner for a few days later at an Italian spot in the West Village, where we spent 3 hours talking about our biggest fears, motivations, and life goals. We discovered that we were oddly similar on a few deep levels, despite coming from different places. But we were so engrossed in our deep talk that we forgot to eat for the first hour and even forgot to have fun! We went our separate ways after dinner without feeling too starstruck, but the feeling of knowing that I hadn’t even scratched the surface lingered for weeks after.
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It wasn’t until our second date a few weeks later that I knew I was in real trouble. While our first was filled with philosophy and our most coveted life goals, the second was full of mini golf, competition, and tacos. For those of you who don’t know, Maria is an angel until she has a vested interest in the outcome of a game. Obviously, this was news to innocent me on our second date, but let’s just say it was all fun and games until I hit a lucky hole-in-one. The cordial “second date” vibe completely went out the window as she focused on lining up her putts and messing with my backswing. We finished with two plates of tacos that she didn’t eat (probably because she was mad at me for winning), so I proceeded to eat everything. On my way home, I knew I was in deep trouble. I knew that this was a girl who had an amazing heart, mind, and depth from our first date, but now this same girl was even more competitive than me AND could watch, judgment-free, as I downed 8 tacos effortlessly. Our deep alignment on life and having fun became the foundation of our relationship that we built on in the weeks to come.
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The following months were filled with more time together—seeing each other about once a week for a while, with dinner dates with her friends, picnics in Central Park, and lunch with her wonderful family. Over time, once a week wasn’t nearly enough for me, and the only time we could squeeze in to see each other was early weekday mornings before work. So, I scheduled coffee dates with her as often as I could. Maria is a morning person, and I am very much not, so these early morning coffee dates were full of her raw morning energy and my tired self just listening and asking questions the whole time. Each time we got coffee, I learned something new about her, and I could see more and more of her light shine through. By early May, it was clear to me and everyone around me that I was completely in love with Maria Elosua. Throughout these months, this weird feeling of certainty persisted, and I knew that this book that I couldn’t remember had much more in store for us.
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By June 11, we committed to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend, and in classic Maria fashion, she committed with her whole heart, and there was no looking back. I bought her engagement ring 7 months later and proposed the following July, and the rest is history. Now, with over two years of knowing this beautiful woman, the feeling I had when I received her Instagram screenshot is the same feeling I have about getting married: a quiet confidence that this is only the beginning. We are so excited to have you join us to celebrate our first few years together and to send us off for the many more to come. We love you!