How We Met
Gino and I met about 16 years ago when we were in elementary school, and though my memory fails me when I try to recall the details of our friendship at this time, he swears he once finished an ice cream cone I didn’t want in the 7th grade! We continued on to the same high school and always remained friends, sitting at the same lunch table and posing for pictures at school functions, per his mom’s request; still totally clueless that we would end up together.
As we went through college, our friendship got stronger. From dozens of concerts & trips to the movies, to driving to Alabama in the middle of the night just to go to a Walmart, it was becoming clearer that we liked each other more than ever! We jumped the inevitably awkward “just friends” to “boyfriend/girlfriend” hurdle (lol) in 2011 and from that moment on I knew Gino was the one!
how they asked
Anyone who knows Gino and I knows that we love Disney World a lot. (In a cool way!) As I was planning for our next trip in December of 2018 with a group of our friends, Gino was planning something else. He surprised me on Christmas day with a trip to Disney World for New Year’s Eve (a holiday I’ve always wanted to spend in Disney). I couldn’t have been more shocked or grateful that he had planned this entire trip on his own, right down to dining reservations & fast passes.
Fast forward to 5 days later and we were in Disney’s Hollywood Studios having the best night ever! When it was almost closing time, we followed our tradition of riding Tower of Terror last and getting an elevator to ourselves. We sat in our usual seats and the ride began. Soon we found ourselves at the top of the elevator shaft looking out over the park, waiting for the inevitable drop.
I look over to swap a nervous glance and instead a ring catches my eye while Gino says “will you marry me?”. Almost immediately, the lights go out and we’re dropping! The next 20 seconds is full of free falling, Gino laughing, and me screaming, while my hands simultaneously go numb (as they do when I get too excited).
When the ride is over, we’re greeted by a few workers who had watched the entire proposal on the ride’s security cameras. They grab my phone and take a few pictures of Gino re-proposing, this time on one knee! I, of course, said yes and the rest of the trip was spent celebrating, making memories, and me asking questions trying to figure out how he had pulled off my dream proposal!
