How did your love story begin?

We were actually very good friends for several years. We were both in relationships with other people, we would ask each other for advice all the time. He ended his relationship and six months later I ended mine. A few months later, we decided to take a leap of faith. That was September 1999. Six months later, he asked me to marry him. We were sitting in my living room, and he actually had the ring box in his sock his. His exact words were “will you wear this for me?” 24 years later- I still am.

What is your favorite memory you've shared as a couple?

There are literally so many. I think one of my favorites is when we were actually dating and my daughter and I went to see him at his apartment. She was very impressed with his “muscles.” We were sitting on his couch and he lifted the one end up, that won her over. She was four! We were than outside and he was pushing her on a swing and that’s when I knew this was the person I wanted to spend my life with. He never treated her as a burden but as an extension of me. He made her a priority.

What would you do with $20,000?

We would probably put it towards a down payment towards a house we would like to build next door to his father. We currently live next-door to my mother so I would bring her with us so we could all be together as a family. Do you spend your life as a child wanting to get away from your parents but as you get older, you want to be with them.