She Had the Color Palette, He Had the Soundtrack

Once upon a time—before dating apps, swiping right, and knowing exactly what we were doing with our lives—there were two slightly mischievous almost-twenty-somethings, a few mutual friends, and a Fourth of July fireworks show at the University of Redlands.

That’s where I first met Gabriel.

He was there with friends, completely unbothered and, much to my disappointment, seemingly not interested in me at all. I, on the other hand, saw him and pretty much immediately decided, Oh… I like that one.

Luckily, life gave me another chance.

Not long after, we crossed paths again at a party at Gabriel’s house. This time, I arrived in a little black dress and cardigan—or what I believed was a little black dress. In hindsight, it may have technically been a nightgown. Apparently, that was all it took. I finally caught his attention.

From there, we became inseparable. Our early days were filled with friends, music, house parties, late nights at parks listening to Gabriel play, and endless conversations about life while we were still trying to figure out what ours would look like.

Then came Sevilla.

After a night out with friends, Gabriel took me to the rooftop club above the Spanish restaurant, where we danced under the night sky. Somewhere between the music, the dancing, and Gabriel very determinedly finding his way over to me, he finally kissed me, that was it. I was hooked.

Our story was never conventional. We were young. We grew up together, made mistakes together, found our way back to each other more times than we could count, and learned—sometimes the hard way—how to become the people we wanted to be.

A couple of years into our story came our greatest adventure of all: Dean. We couldn’t even agree on his name until he was born, because of course we couldn’t. But the moment Gabriel chose “Dean,” it was perfect. Suddenly, while we were still learning how to grow up ourselves, we were responsible for raising this incredible little human together and somehow, we did.

Over the years, the three of us became a family while Gabriel and I became better versions of ourselves. He is the soft place to land—the musician, the writer, the thinker, the one who listens without judgment and makes people feel safe. I am the artist, the dreamer, the fiercely loyal one, usually armed with a plan, an opinion, and enough determination for both of us.

We are different in all the ways that somehow make sense.

Nearly two decades after those Fourth of July fireworks, the boy who barely noticed me and the girl who wore a nightgown to a party are finally getting married.

It may have taken us the scenic route to get here, but then again, we were never very interested in doing things the traditional way.

If our story has taught us anything, it’s that some people simply keep finding their way back to one another.

We always did and always will.