Connect How did your love story begin?

Our story began in college, though we didn't know it yet, as we briefly hung out, then parted ways. We met again when we both transferred to the same school at similar times and reconnected randomly one night on a dating app. What started as what we thought of as just another summer fling turned into two people wanting to share their lives together for much more than just one night. Through many nights together at the bar Valeria performed regularly, we began to fall in love with each other.

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

We’ve traveled together, we’ve performed together, and we've laughed so much together. But even then, my favorite memory of us has to be of me recovering from a face surgery when we started living together. Even though I was in so much pain, and was so needy and probably so annoying, you were there for me. You loved me even with a face so swollen that I could hardly speak, you cared for me and made me feel so loved even when I didn't feel like a real person. I will never forget that feeling.

What would you do with $20,000?

We are both in our mid-twenties, pretty fresh out of college, and now that we've graduated, the one thing we haven't been able to afford to do the way that we want to is to get married. We've been waiting to get engaged for the perfect moment and $20,000 would not only help us have our dream wedding, but also set us up to move to Chicago and start the rest of our lives and pursue our dreams with one another. Moving out of the state we both grew up in, to somewhere we can start our own family.