We're Getting Married!

We owe Andrew DeFelice a special shoutout and thank you. It was May 2022, and Carl Zeiss Meditec (the employer of Cruz, and coincidentally Shelby DeFelice, Allison’s Matron of Honor), had a President’s Club & Legend’s Club trip planned to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Andrew was unable to attend that week. Cruz, in his typical fashion, planned to attend the week solo, starfishing in a King size bed alone. Shelby, less-intent on attending the work trip alone, extended an invite to Allison. How could she say no to a free trip to Fort Lauderdale? Fast forward to the week in Fort Lauderdale. Cruz spent most of the beginning of the trip hanging out with some of the reps he was managing at the time, as Shelby and Allison spent time hanging out with her mutual work friends. It was the second day that our groups collided on the beach to enjoy a long session of running up Uncle Carl’s (our pseudo-name for our employer) tab on the beach with copious amounts of Patron shots and cold beer. Allison will tell it that Cruz saw her and never left her alone from there on out. In reality, that was mostly true. Cruz had noticed Allison from across the cabanas from the start, and knew he needed to find a clever way to make his introduction. Something that was VERY outside of his comfort zone. He had started his day with a 6 AM departure for a morning of deep sea fishing, and it was fair to say his liquid courage meter was fully maxed out when he decided to make a move. Allison had left to go back into the hotel momentarily, so Cruz took a spot in the cabana where he knew she would return. She came back, and the spark was instant. We spent the rest of that day mostly together, and when separated, noticed a void neither one of us could ignore. We exchanged numbers on the final day of the trip and went our separate ways. Both of us had been mostly single for the last 7 - 8 years, and had 1000 miles between our home cities of Austin, Texas and Kansas City, Missouri as a barrier to entry. We continued the conversation, texting consistently through the day for the following month. Finally, after some initial hesitation from Cruz (1000+ miles for the first real relationship in almost a decade?) Allison made the trip up to Kansas City for their first real date, second time together. That weekend with friends in Kansas City was all Cruz needed for proof that we needed to chase this thing and see where it led. The distance was no longer a hesitation, merely an obstacle we knew we could overcome if this was to work out. We traded trips back and forth to Austin and Kansas City for the next 15 months before finally moving in together in Kansas City. We had quickly come to believe that maybe love truly does strike at the moment you are least looking for it. As we look back, we are thankful for the long distance start. The distance helped us enjoy the time we DID get together. Now that we DO live together, we have a strong perspective and appreciation for our current life, knowing the struggles that we navigated through the long distance. Our busy work careers have not slowed down, yet we both gained a support system to continue pushing in our careers. Cheers to Uncle Carl for his liquor support on the beach that day. For Andrew deciding to stay back in Arizona. To the Elbo Room for the Purple Gatorade shots. And for the courage to go against the odds and give it a chance.