It all started with a swipe. After swiping yes and exchanging phone numbers, Neil and I had our first date at Ayza Wine & Chocolate Bar. I was the one who suggested dessert for our first date because one, I love dessert, and two, I figured if Neil was going to be a dud, I could at least make a quick escape. I had a wonderful time with Neil that night, but little did I know that my life was to change forever.


However, our early dates were a little rocky to say the least. Let me correct myself, being with Neil was wonderful, but we attended one of the worst Mets games, almost missed seeing the movie, The Menu, in New Jersey, and watched one of the worst off-off-off Broadway shows ever (we still shiver thinking about it). Nonetheless, what I loved most about our early dates was getting to learn about Neil and finding out all of our crazy similarities.


In our two short years together, Neil and I have traveled to California, Florida, Alaska, Puerto Rico, England, Scotland, France and, most importantly, Austin, Texas.


When Neil first told me that we were going to watch the Total Solar Eclipse from the air on April 8, 2024, I was like, he wants to take me to outer space? I was a little confused until he assured me that we were going to be on a regular airline flight. Then, a few days before our special flight, Neil told me that Delta wanted us to dress up “nicely” for the flight. I looked at Neil and told him “Why?” and thought to myself “Is he crazy?” Luckily, before our trip, I made sure to do my nails.


Before our special flight, Neil and I made a little weekend trip out of it. We stayed over at the TWA hotel at JFK and then we flew to Austin, Texas (from where the eclipse flight was scheduled to take off). We had such a wonderful time in Austin that I did not think our trip could get better.


But I was wrong. Even before we boarded our flight, Neil and I were jamming to solar eclipse-themed songs like “Fly Me to the Moon”, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Moon River.” Delta gave us the coolest swag bag which included Moon Pies and Sun Chips.


We watched the eclipse through our special protective glasses. Then, just after the cabin lights came back on, a crowd of photographers jammed their cameras and phones in my face as Neil pulled out a little blue box…with a ring in it! I was shocked and delighted! I immediately said “Yes.” After our flight, Neil and I were all over the news (domestic and international) and even did interviews on CBS (https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/solar-eclipse-engagement-nyc/)and Fox Weather (https://www.foxweather.com/watch/play-710778a6f001782).


Now Neil and I are so excited to share our special day with all of you. We are so grateful and thankful to our families and friends who are our biggest supporters. We can’t wait to celebrate and we want everyone to dance in the moonlight with us on April 5, 2025.