I was volunteering at a lagoon in Mexico and ended up stranded. A friend let me stay in her jungle treehouse, and downstairs lived Denis, a fleeing artist waiting for his home country to be safe again. He had long hair, his life in his backpack, & my curiosity before he even spoke. His voice, rough with a Slavic accent, became something I never wanted to stop hearing. He cooked for me, painted me, & made space for every word I needed to say. We didn’t have a plan, just a pull towards each other.

When Denis proposed underwater in the same lagoon where we met, it felt like a dream. But maybe our favorite memory is riding down the Amazon River at night on a local fast boat that hit something. Log? Croc? We’ll never know. We couldn’t see a thing, just heard water pouring in. We chased adventure into a city only reachable by boat or plane. I got three types of parasites, an infection & thought I was dying (but really, I was just violently shitting myself). He took care of me through it all.♡

We’d donate a portion to the Epilepsy Foundation’s SUDEP program, which funds critical research into Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy- the tragedy that took my sister’s life. Many, like us, never learn of it until it’s too late. More awareness and research is vital to prevent such tragedies. We’d also invest in Denis’s art to build a life together and support my mother and grandparents, who’ve been our unwavering pillars. We would use it to help us begin, give back, and honor our family.